This tribe includes the terrestrial species of bugs. It is subdivided
into fifteen families.
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: Fig. 82.--Catacanthus Incarnatus.]
[Illustration: Fig. 83.--Euthyrhynchus Floridanus (Mag.)]
Some of the Chinese Bugs belonging to the genus _Tesseratoma_ are the
largest species known.
_Family 2, Coreidæ._--This family contains a great number of
plant-feeding native and exotic species, varying considerably in shape
and structure. The majority of European species are, however, of small
size in comparison to those found in tropical parts of the world.
The insects of this family are rarely adorned with bright colours,
different shades of brown being the prevailing tints, although a few of
them are gaily adorned.
[Illustration: Fig. 84.--Trigonosoma Desfontainei.]
In their general habits they much resemble the Shield Bugs.
Two British species are _Syromastes marginatus_ and _Verlusia rhombea_.
_Family 3, Lygæidæ._--The members of this family are, on the whole,
much smaller than the _Coreidæ_, some of the smallest forms of which
many of them resemble.
[Illustration: Fig. 85.--Cantao Oceliatus (Mag.)]
These insects are generally of a red colour, with black bands and spots.
Several species are very injurious to cultivated plants. One of the
most destructive of all is _Blissus leucopterus_, a black insect
with white fore wings, each of which is marked with a large black
triangular spot on the outer edge. It measures about an eighth of an
inch in length. The young larva is red. In the United States this
insect, which abounds to a considerable extent, is called the "Chinch
Bug."
[Illustration: Fig. 86.--Menenotus Lunatus.]
[Illustration: Fig. 87.--Copius Intermedius.]
_Family 4, Pyrrhocoridæ._--This family of bugs abounds in all parts of
the world, and in Europe and Britain is undoubtedly the most numerously
represented of all the families of bugs. A very common species in this
country found on nettles is _Phytocoris tripustulatus_, which is about
one-sixth of an inch in length, and generally yellowish in colour.
_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.
[Illustration: Fig. 88.--Tingis Pyri (Mag.)]
[Illustration: 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.
_Family 9, Emesidæ._--Most of these insects are carnivorous in their
habits. The best known species of this family is probably _Plæaria
vagabunda_, a brown, delicately-formed insect, which inhabits trees.
[Illustration: Fig. 90.--Acanthaspis Sexguttata.]