APIOMERUS. 231 
are articulated to the upper inner edge of this segment, also differ in form according 
to the species, these being sometimes angularly dilated on the inner edge (A. emargi- 
natus) ; a second pair of very short claspers are visible in one species (A. emarginatus). 
In the females the narrow first genital (last dorsal) segment is sometimes furnished 
with a foliaceous, piriform or orbicular, appendage on each side, movable at the will 
of the insect (A. verillarius, A. hirtipes, &c.); in others (A. flaviventris, A. pictipes, 
&c.) the outer apical angles of this segment are simply bent downwards, so as to form 
a small transverse or triangular plate; in others, again (A. subpiceus, &c.), the lateral 
margins of this segment are quite simple and form an uninterrupted outline with 
the connexivum ; the terminal genital segment is trapezoidal in shape and invisible 
from above, the chitinous surface of it becoming ventral. The females, moreover, 
differ from the males in having the ventral surface thickly pilose, and the posterior 
tibiee compressed and sinuous before the apex, and furnished with a dense brush of 
short bristly hairs on the upper edge beyond the middle. In the males the ventral 
surface is sparsely pilose and the posterior tibize have a much shorter brush, sometimes 
formed of a few scattered bristles only. The females have the power of exuding a 
sticky fluid from the ventral surface, and probably from the tibia also: the hairs 
on the venter are matted and stuck together with this substance in nearly all the 
specimens examined. From what I have observed of the habits of one of the 
largest species, A. vexillarius, which is quite common in forest-clearings in the “ tierra 
caliente” of Chiriqui, this viscous fluid appeared to be used for the purpose of securing 
a firm grasp of its prey—freshly emerged Longicornia, &c., nearly as large as itself— 
during the process of suction. Dr. Sharp, however (Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. 1892, 
pp- 191-199), has recorded a curious fact in connection with the mode of deposition 
of the eggs of an Amazonian Reduviid (possibly a species of Harpactorine or 
Apiomerine), showing that this fluid is used for gumming them down on a leaf. 
The foliaceous appendages of the females of A. vewillarius, &c., are bright sanguineous 
in life, and very conspicuous, looking like two red flags waving about, as the insect 
runs over the surface of fallen timber in search of its prey. These appendages, like 
the more or less expanded and similarly-coloured sixth dorsal segment of the males of 
the same species, often fade after death to flavous or even black. The anterior and 
intermediate tarsi are short and retractile, fitting into a groove along the outer face of 
the stout, broad tibie. 
Some of the smaller forms are found upon flowers or herbage. I am unacquainted 
with the larva or pupa of any of the species of the genus. 
a. @ with foliaceous genital appendages; ¢ with two divergent, upwardly 
curved spines at the apex of the last genital segment. [ApiomERus, 
Hahn. | 
a'. 2 appendages very large, elongate, and piriform ; sixth dorsal segment 
of ¢ dilated posteriorly into a very broad plate, which is emarginate 
in the centre at the apex: species large and robust . . . . . . vewvillarius, n. sp. 
