This Species Of Locust Closely Resembles, And Perhaps
Is Identical With, The Famous Gryllus Migratorius Of The East.
We crossed the Luxan, which is a river of considerable
size, though its course towards the sea-coast is very
imperfectly known:
It is even doubtful whether, in passing over
the plains, it is not evaporated and lost. We slept in the
village of Luxan, which is a small place surrounded by gardens,
and forms the most southern cultivated district in the
Province of Mendoza; it is five leagues south of the capital.
At night I experienced an attack (for it deserves no less a
name) of the _Benchuca_, a species of Reduvius, the great
black bug of the Pampas. It is most disgusting to feel soft
wingless insects, about an inch long, crawling over one's
body. Before sucking they are quite thin, but afterwards
they become round and bloated with blood, and in this state
are easily crushed. One which I caught at Iquique, (for they
are found in Chile and Peru,) was very empty. When placed
on a table, and though surrounded by people, if a finger was
presented, the bold insect would immediately protrude its
sucker, make a charge, and if allowed, draw blood. No pain
was caused by the wound. It was curious to watch its body
during the act of sucking, as in less than ten minutes it
changed from being as flat as a wafer to a globular form.
This one feast, for which the benchuca was indebted to one
of the officers, kept it fat during four whole months; but,
after the first fortnight, it was quite ready to have another
suck.
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