. A manual for the study of insects. Insects. HEMIPTERA. 137 Family Reduviid^ (Red-u-vi'i-dae). The Assassin-bugs, There are many bugs which destroy their fellows, but the members of this family are so pre-eminently predaceous that we call them the Assassin-bugs. Although they usually live on the blood of insects, in some cases they attack the higher animals, and occasionally even man suffers from them. Care should be used in collecting them, as some are apt to inflict painful stings with their beaks. In this family the beak is only three-jointed, and when not in use the tip rests in a groove
. A manual for the study of insects. Insects. HEMIPTERA. 137 Family Reduviid^ (Red-u-vi'i-dae). The Assassin-bugs, There are many bugs which destroy their fellows, but the members of this family are so pre-eminently predaceous that we call them the Assassin-bugs. Although they usually live on the blood of insects, in some cases they attack the higher animals, and occasionally even man suffers from them. Care should be used in collecting them, as some are apt to inflict painful stings with their beaks. In this family the beak is only three-jointed, and when not in use the tip rests in a groove between the fore legs. The family is a very large one, containing more than a hundred American species. In the Atlantic States one sometimes finds, in basements and in rooms but little used, a bug which presents a very curious appearance from having its body and legs completely covered with dust, so that it looks like a living mass of lint as it moves around. This is the Masked Bed-bug Hunter, Opsiccettcs personatiis (Op-si-coe^tus per-so-na'tus). This species infests houses for the sake of preying upon bed-bugs; it also feeds upon flies and other insects. Its mask is worn only during youth, and consists of particles of dust and fibres which ad- here to a sticky substance with which the body, legs, and antennae are covered. The adult is black or very dark brown, and is represented by Figure i6o. A closely allied species, which is black marked ^^^ic^auiTper- with red, insinuates itself into beds for a less com- •'^*'*^^•^• mendable purpose than that of its ally, for it sucks human blood at first hand. This insect occurs in the Southern and Western States ; it is the Big Bed-bug, Conorhinus sanguisii- gus (Co-nor^hi-nus san-gui-su^gus). Nearly all the members of this family, however, live upon trees and other plants, and prey upon Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectinsects, bookyear1895
