Biologia Centrali-Americana
Insecta
Rhynchota
Hemiptera-Homoptera

Vol 1 by W. L. Distant, F.E.S., and the Rev. Canon W. W. Fowler, F.L.S.
1881-1905

Vol 2
Part 1 by the Rev. W. W. Fowler, D.Sc., M.A., F.L.S.
Part 2 by Prof. T. D. A. Cockerell.
1894-1909

These plates have the distinction of being both excellently rendered and wondrously bizarre. Hemipterans are the "true bugs," unlike other so-called "bugs," like beetles, which are not, in fact, bugs at all. The hand-colored plates showcase the material well, especially in places like Tab 5, the Fulgora laternaria, or peanut bug (see detail above), which has white gouache on its abdomen, representing a white substance that the animal secretes when threatened. As the paper has aged and darkened, the white markings have grown more distinct, perhaps making the image more striking than it was a hundred years ago.