418 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS [Nov., '15 



these are known, but at least one must be a coccid parasite, and 

 it is hardly likely that any of the species are associated or that 

 the coloration has any significance from the standpoint of mim- 

 icry, or what may be called protective association. Most of 

 these species are forest insects, but at least a third appear to be 

 peculiar to jungle country. They were all captured at varying 

 times and places (mostly near Nelson), and one of the tetrasti- 

 chines was reared from a gall on a typical forest tree. These 

 are, therefore, prominent examples of what may be called ana- 

 logical likenesses or the development of similar characters 

 among diverging lines of evolution. 



Among the Mymaridae a Gonatocerus with banded wings is 

 indeed a rarity or peculiarity more especially when the band 

 takes the longitudinal rather than the transverse direction. 

 There occur in North Queensland several large species of odd 

 habitus as concerns the genus, two of which are very much 

 alike and bear in the forewing a conspicuous longitudinal 

 stripe ; these two species are rather commonly met with in the 

 jungle, but one day while sweeping in a jungle pocket at Meer- 

 awa I caught what I thought was another specimen of one of 

 them and consequently was not particularly interested until 

 upon examining the collection later I was surprised beyond the 

 ordinary to find that the specimen was a Polynema. These 

 three species belong to the jungle and the Polynema is as pecu- 

 liar to its own genus as the other two are to theirs. Species of 

 Polynema from the jungle quite frequently bear transverse 

 stripes on the forewings, some of them very broad and con- 

 spicuous, in this case really and truly remarkable and wonder- 

 fully beautiful insects, but I have never seen a second member 

 of the genus with a longitudinal stripe. 



This occurrence of striking patterns of color in unrelated in- 

 sects seems to be due merely to what may be expressed as 

 chance variations, being preserved because they do not disturb 

 the economy of the insects in question, and not to any signifi- 

 cant mimetic or other interrelations between the species. I 

 see no reason why this is not the explanation. The variation 

 occurs and is preserved. 



