Family 5, Capsidæ.—This family contains a great number of small species of variegated colours, which feed exclusively on the sap of plants or the juice of fruits.
A rather small species (Capsus ater) is common upon herbage. The male is entirely black; in the female the head and thorax are reddish. The genus Miris and its allies include elongated species, which are found chiefly in grassy places.
Family 6, Tingididæ.—The species of this family differ considerably among themselves in size, structure, and habits; and although the majority of them are carnivorous, others, especially among the smaller species, are herbivorous. One species (Tingis pyri), found in our own country, is sometimes very injurious to pear trees.
Fig. 88.—Tingis Pyri (Mag.)
Fig. 89.—Cimex Lectularius (Mag.)
Family 7, Cimicidæ.—The type of this family is the common Bed Bug (Acanthia lectularia), which is only too well known to most people. Although treated as a British insect, it does not always appear to have been an inhabitant of these islands, but to have made its way here about the beginning of the sixteenth century. Three other British species have been described as inhabiting the dwelling-places of certain animals and sucking their blood. A. columbaria attacks pigeons. A. hirundinis is found in swallows' nests, and A. pipistrelli feeds on bats.
Family 8, Reduviidæ.—All the insects of this family are predaceous in their habits, and are exceedingly numerous in tropical climates. The largest British species is Reduvius personatus, an insect about three-quarters of an inch long, of a blackish-brown colour with reddish legs. It is well furnished with wings, and flies especially in warm summer evenings, when it frequently enters houses, being attracted by the lights. This insect is said to be a great enemy to the bed bug.
Some of the foreign species of Reduviidæ are most formidable insects, such as the great black Conorrhinus renggeri of Chili, which often attacks travellers when camping out.