In effect, it has all the characters of the parasitical insect--its protracted head, distinct from the rest of its body, is sometimes thrust forward in quest of its food, sometimes drawn back or concealed, to protect it from danger. Intended to suck rather than to knead or bruise, it has a sucker, but no mandibles. The head is without antennæ, and its palpi are very short, barely visible, and of a conical form. The body is ovular and very soft (whence the Grecian name _leptus_, λεπτός, signifying "soft"). The anterior part, corresponding to the thorax, is broader than it is long, and is marked underneath, on each side of the central line, by a black point: these two points, symmetrically placed, appear to represent the eyes. The posterior portion, corresponding to the abdomen, is longer than it is broad, and covered with hairs. Each leg consists of six joints, easily distinguished by the hairs inserted at each articulation; and each terminates in a couple of strong crooked _claws_, which enable the animal to obtain a firm hold on the skin. * * * * * Thus, then, to judge from the aggregate of its characters, the harvest bug, _Leptus autumnalis_, belongs to the class Arachnidæ, while the number of its feet places it in the class Insects. But this is a detail which causes little annoyance to a person being devoured by the "red beasts," and only anxious to rid himself of them. But if such be his desire, let me tell him that the best remedies are bathing the afflicted part with lotions of vinegar, or rubbing it with sulphur ointment. I have been asked whether certain tiny parasites, such as the _Ocypete rubra_,--which is also red, and has six feet like the _Leptus autumnalis_, but which, instead of attacking man and his domestic companions, attaches itself to flies,--I have been asked whether these insectiform Arachnidæ may not be species of larva not yet arrived at their matured condition. For my part, I must acknowledge that, whether the _Ocypete rubra_ is or is not the transitory state of a more perfect animal, I do not know. But I am sure that the _Leptus autumnalis_ lives and dies on the skin where it has selected its dwelling-place,--a _living_ dwelling-place. * * * * * It is impossible to be too circumspect in the determination of certain genera and species, whose different phases of existence are little known, and which seem, so far as their characteristics are concerned, to participate of several orders or classes of articulated animals. The errors which have been committed in this respect ought at least to teach us caution.