This tribe includes the terrestrial species of bugs. It is subdivided into fifteen families.
Fig. 81.—Tectocoris Banksii.
Family 1, Scutelleridæ.—This extensive family includes the greater portion of the largest and handsomest species of the Land Bugs.
The insects live upon plants, trees, and shrubs, and feed upon the juices, which they suck out of the soft tissues, many of them especially attacking juicy fruits. The family is very well represented in the warmer parts of the world, where also the most beautifully coloured species are met with.
One of the most handsome representatives in Europe is Graphosoma lineatum, which measures nearly half an inch in length. It is reddish in colour and is common on flowers, especially those of the Umbelliferæ, but is not met with in our own country.
Edessa cervus is a native of South America, and another pretty species.
The most familiar British species is what is commonly known as the Colewort Bug (Strachia oleracea), a very pretty insect, which lives on cruciferous plants, and is said sometimes to be injurious in gardens.
Fig. 82.—Catacanthus Incarnatus.