338 
WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
in a short time pumps out all the juices of its body and throws 
away the empty skin. He belongs to a rather extensive group 
(Scutellera family) of the true bugs ( Heteroptera ,) distinguish¬ 
able from all others by the very large scutel, which in this 
genus is triangular, and covers nearly half his back. Most of 
the genera belonging to this group are plant-feeders, but there 
is a sub-group (Spissirostres) to which our cannibal friend be¬ 
longs, characterized by the robustness of their beaks, and all 
of these, so far as our experience extends, are cannibals. 
To illustrate to the eye the difference between the beaks of the 
b 
Colors—Dull olive with 
yellow markings. 
Colors—Sober brown and speck¬ 
led with ochre and yellow. 
cannibal sub-group and the plant-feeding sub-groups of this 
family, Fig. 52 a gives a magnified view of the beak of our in- 
: sect seen from below, and Fig. 52 c a similarly magnified view 
- of that of a plant-feeder belonging to the same family (Em <?iis- 
* tus punciipes , Say,) which is so nearly of the same size, shape and 
. color as our cannibal friend, that at fi:st many persons would 
mistake one for the other. The spined-bug, however, may be at 
once distinguished from all allied bugs, whether plant-feeders 
or cannibals, by the opaque brown streak at the transparent 
and glassy tip of its wing-cases. 
Two years ago we were informed by our ornithological 
friend, Dr. Melie, that a good observer in Henry county, II]., 
discovered that the large brown squash-bug (Coreus tristis , De- 
* Geer,) depredated extensively upon the larvae of the Colorado 
potato bug. We said at the time that this must be a mistake, 
because not a single species of this group ( Coreys family) is 
. known to be cannibal. We can now understand how this mis- 
. take arose. No less than five persons in south Illinois, to whom 
