clxxii FAUNA HAWAIIENSIS 



N esomicronms , and their present diet of Aphidae is a return to the normal food of the 

 family in other countries. 



The genus Psendopsectra is clearly an endemic offshoot from Nesoniicromus, the 

 posterior wings having become reduced to lobes, and the insect itself flightless. 

 Nesothaunia is a still more remarkable form, the hind wings having entirely dis- 

 appeared, while the front ones have become hard like the elytra of a beetle, and 

 their fringes have also vanished. It is allied to Psendopsectra, and has been found 

 in company with it, on trees covered with dense growths of lichens and harbouring 

 many Psocidae. It varies much in colour, so that examples taken in the same locality 

 appear superficially distinct from one another. The insects comprising these two 

 genera are amongst the most remarkable of known Hemerobiidae. 



Of the subfamily Chrysopinae one species of Chrysopa (C oceanicd) was brought 

 back by the Beechey expedition more than three-quarters of a century ago, and 

 has not since been met with. Probably it frequented the lowlands, and has become 

 exterminated. In this connection I may add that a species of this genus is known 

 to me from the far outlying island of Midway, but I do not know whether this is the 

 same as the other, opportunity for comparison of description or specimens not having 

 occurred. 



Another species, Chrysopa microphya, now ubiquitous on the lowlands, and at 

 moderate elevations in the mountains, is, I feel sure, a comparatively recent introduction. 

 Its larva attacks many small insects, such as various scale insects or Coccidae, Aphidae, 

 young leaf-hoppers, etc., and being numerous, it is decidedly beneficial. The larva 

 carries the empty skins of its prey on its back in the usual manner, and the eggs are 

 of the usual stalked form. The pupae are parasitized by a well-known American 

 Hemiteles of the Ichneumonidae, but the proportion so destroyed is small. 



Apart from these species all the Chrysopine Hemerobiids belong to the endemic 

 genus Ano7nalochrysa, itself no doubt capable of subdivision, and embracing a wide 

 variety of forms, 29 species having been discriminated. The eggs are simple, not 

 stalked, and several are frequently laid side by side. They are parasitized by a species 

 of Pentarthron, of the family Trichogrammidae (Chalcidoidea) which, however, may 

 have been introduced. The larvae, some of which have been found preying on 

 caterpillars, are often gaily coloured, the colouration sometimes resembling that of 

 the adults, being green or yellowish, with a crimson or bright yellow mediodorsal stripe. 

 The larger ones are able to give a sharp bite, when they fall on the bare skin. The 

 adults are mostly entirely nocturnal, I think, though some of them are very easily 

 disturbed by day. In open places in the forest, where the growth is short and scanty, 

 and also in some places above or below the forest, A. montana, a small fragile species, 

 often flies up as one walks along, and may even be on the move without being disturbed. 

 I have seen this or an allied species in incredible numbers, when on my way in the 

 early morning hours from the coast at Kawaihae to the uplands of Waimea on Hawaii. 



