Fig. 272—Eggs of Endochus cingalensis. "The eggs are attached to a leaf and to each other by a viscid substance; eggs red, the cover pale yellow, with the club white at the tip."—MS. note of E. E. Green.
Although the attacks of Reduviidae on animals are usually confined to the smaller and more defenceless kinds, yet this is by no means invariably the case; there are in fact numerous species that do not hesitate to attack man himself. Several species of Reduvius do this in Southern Europe, and are frequently met with in houses. R. personatus is the only species of the genus in England; though far from common anywhere, it is sometimes found in houses, and is said to destroy the common bed-bug; it is able to pass its whole existence in our habitations, for the young are found as frequently as the adult, and are usually concealed by a quantity of dusty matter, or refuse, adhering to the body. This habit of covering the body with some foreign substance is natural to the Insect, the young that are found on trees being covered with matter derived therefrom. Darwin has given us an account of the Benchucha,[[492]] a bug an inch long, which in South America attacks human beings after the fashion of the common bed-bug. In this case no ill-effects follow the attack, but in the case of Conorhinus sanguisuga in Arizona, great pain and inflammation ensue and may end in the gathering and discharge of pus.
Not the least remarkable of characters of Reduviidae is the form of the eggs of some of the species (Fig. 272, and Vol. V. Fig. 78, C); the egg bearing a peculiar operculum, the purpose of which is at present quite mysterious.
Fam. 13. Aëpophilidae.—A single species forms this family. It is of considerable interest, as it is incapable of flight, passing a large part of its life covered by the sea. Aëpophilus bonnairei is a small Insect with quite short head, without ocelli, and with the organs of flight represented by a pair of very short elytra, with rounded hind-margins. It is found on the shores of Western France, and, as a great rarity, on our own south coast. It no doubt sucks small soft animals. In the Channel Islands it occurs in spots where it is nearly always covered by a considerable depth of water.
Fam. 14. Ceratocombidae.—Minute bugs with ocelli and elytra. Rostrum free. Head not broad, somewhat prolonged in front; eyes close to the thorax. Elytra usually without a distinctly separated membrane. Tarsi three-jointed.—This family includes at present only a few, minute, fragile bugs, that have often been classified with Cimicidae or Anthocoridae. We have only two British species, one of which, Dipsocoris alienus, is common amongst the damp shingle at the margins of the burns and waters of Scotland.
Fam. 15. Cimicidae.—Ocelli absent; elytra very short and broad, so that the broad abdomen is left uncovered. Head short and broad. Rostrum received in a groove beneath the head. Tarsi three-jointed.—Although this family consists of only a dozen species, it is the most notorious of all the Order, as it includes the detestable Cimex lectularius or common Bed-bug. This Insect is now peculiar to the habitations of man, and is said not to trouble savage races; or rather it is supposed to be present only when the habitations have a certain degree of comfort and permanence. It has no fixed period of the year for its development, but the generations succeed one another so long as the temperature is sufficiently elevated; during too cold weather the Insects merely become stupefied, their lives being as it were interrupted till warmth returns. It is a favourite food with other Insects, and is destroyed by cockroaches and ants as well as by Reduvius; the small black ant Monomorium will, it is said, clear a house of the bed-bug in a few days. Nothing is really known as to the origin of this Insect; it is now very widely distributed. The other species of the family frequent birds and bats, and are very similar to the common bug. The genus to which the bed-bug belongs is in many works called Acanthia instead of Cimex. Other authors apply the term Acanthia to Salda, but it is better to allow the name Acanthia to fall into disuse.
Fam. 16. Anthocoridae.—Minute bugs, usually with ocelli and with elytra; the latter occasionally abbreviated, but usually fully developed, with membranous tip. Head prolonged in the middle in front much beyond the insertion of the antennae; eyes not far from the thorax. Rostrum free.—These small and obscure Insects appear to be rather numerous in species, and to be chiefly connected with woods and forests. Some of the species live in ants' nests. We have 27 British species belonging to 11 genera. About 200 species of the family are known. The members of the sub-family Microphysides are remarkable from the great dissimilarity of the sexes, for which it is not possible to assign any reason.
Fig. 273—Polyctenes fumarius. (After Westwood.)