March, 1916] Homopterous Studies. Part I 185 



with two dull red spots a Httle in advance of the eyes; finely punctate, 

 and about five times the length of the pronotum. Eyes dark green to 

 black, rather large. Ocelli absent, but two small depressions are indi- 

 cated, where one would expect the ocelli. In his original description 

 Percheron noted the presence of ocelli, but later Burmeister drew atten- 

 tion to the fact that these were mere depressions. Antennae short, 

 sharp at the distal end, inserted in deep pits. Facial sutures distinct; 

 genae yellowish, rounded; clypeus large, a little longer than broad, taper- 

 ing gradually to the rostrum. Pronotum red, darker at the sides; a 

 longitudinal line along the middle. Scutellum shorter than the prono- 

 tum. Elytra dark red, broadly oval in shape, densely punctulate, the 

 punctation arranged in definite series; shorter than the abdomen. 

 Abdomen above red, beneath light brown to yellowish. Genitalia: last 

 ventral segment small and distinctly notched and grooved on the mid- 

 dle, not as long as the penultimate; pygofers long and narrow, widely 

 separated at the base, becoming closer on the middle, and separating 

 again at the tip. Ovipositor long, thin, much longer than the pygofers, 

 its length about 3.5 mm. Legs light brown, the femurs stout. 



Male — Face with a distinct yellow band along the middle; elytra 

 much longer than the abdomen, light brown along the margin of the 

 corium. Genitalia, last ventral segment not quite as long as the 

 penultimate, valve about as long as the last ventral segment, triangular 

 in shape; plates long, rounded at the tips, about twice as long as the 

 valve; pygofers a little shorter than the plates. 



This interesting insect is one of the most unique in Southern Africa. 

 According to the literature it seems to be scarce in collections, but in the 

 material on hand it is quite abundant. The original description was 

 based on a single specimen, the habitat of which was unknown until 

 later it was identified with the Cape. Burmeister stated that he had 

 only seen two specimens, one at Berlin and the other at Hamburg, and 

 he mentions the habitat as the Cape of Good Hope. As far as the 

 writer is aware, this is the onh^ complete description of both male and 

 female that has been published. 



x\n interesting case of protective mimicry is recorded for Cephalelus 

 infumatus, and this probably accounts for its scarcity in collections. 

 According to Professor Osborn, "The protective feature comes in from 

 the fact that the aborted leaf -sheaths on the stem of the plant form sharp 

 spines occurring at intervals along the length of the stem, and these are 

 perfectly reproduced in the form and color of the insect. So close is the 

 resemblance that when a number of the spines are mounted separately 

 alongside of the insects, it is very difficult to distinguish them without 

 the most careful scrutiny. When the specimens were first received, I 

 had looked them over some time before noticing that a number were not 

 insects at all, but simply spurs and had there not been one mounted 

 with a fragment of stem along with an insect beside it, I might have 

 taken a much longer time to make the discovery. I have shown the set 

 to a number of individuals, who have taken quite a little time to make 

 the same discovery. " 



"According to Mr. Mally the insect lives on the rush Dovea tec- 

 torum Masters, the spurs of which are mimicked. I may mention that 

 the stems are green, while the aborted leaf -sheaths are dark brown. " 



