256 Transactions. 



which it is supposed to mimic are introduced ; and, in any case, bees are 

 sometimes caught by spiders, though they are handled with great caution. 



On the same subject of mimicry and warning coloration the following 

 experiments offer more interest :■ — 



Araneus brouni in captivity repeatedly refused Nyctemera annulata, the 

 black-and-yellow day-flying Hypsid moth. The same moth was rejected 

 time after time by the large hunting-spider, Dolomedes imperiosus {minor) 

 L. Koch. It is suggestive that both these spiders ate readily many other 

 moths, from Pyralids to' Porinae. The following experiment was tried on 

 a free specimen of Araneus brouni in its fully-formed web between two 

 rose-bushes. By lamp-light, in the evening, I placed in its web the 

 following live moths : first Nyctemera annulata, then Declana floccosa, and 

 lastly Rhapsa scotosialis — all fair-sized moths. The spider sprang on each 

 in turn and first applied its chelicerae, without discriminating between the 

 moths. Then the victims were rotated and swathed in silk in the usual 

 way, the three cylindrical parcels thus obtained being left hanging in the 

 parts of the web where they had each been caught. The untimely 

 destruction of the web prevented my ascertaining whether all these mothis 

 were finally eaten. 



Spiders, owing to the ease with which they may be induced to build 

 their nests in captivity, and the many unexpected peculiarities of habit 

 which they display, should become favourite objects of study to those 

 interested in the life-processes of the lower animals. 



In conclusion , I should like to express my thanks to the Comte de 

 Dalmas, of Paris, and to Mr. E. K. Lomas, for their invaluable assistance 

 in the identification of specimens and in the procuring of spider literature. 

 Araignees de Nouvelle-Zelande (Ann. Soc. Ent. de France), by Comte de 

 Dalmas, is indispensable. To Professor H. B. Kirk and Mr Lomas I am 

 indebted for reading the manuscript. 



Art. XXIX. — Notes on the Hemiptera of the Kermadec Islands, 

 with an Addition to the Hemiptera Fauna of the New Zealand 

 Subregion. 



By John G. Myers, F.E.S. 



Bead before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 27th October, 1920 ; received by Editor, 

 31st December, 1920 : issued separately, 20th July, 1921.] 



Though the kindness of the Dominion Museum authorities I have been 

 enabled to examine a small collection of Hemiptera made in the Kermadecs 

 during 1908 by W. L. Wallace, of the W. B. B. Oliver expedition. Of 

 the eight species represented, one is not in a condition to be determined 

 with accuracy ; one is pelagic, with a wide distribution in the Pacific ; one 

 is common to Australia and New Zealand, though rare in the latter ; one is 

 probably new ; while all the rest are New Zealand species. 



