cxciv FAUNA HAWAIIENSIS 



variation. In four species of the genus (sensu lat.) the variation in size is quite marked, 

 by the occurrence of unusually small examples. These are taken actually in company 

 with the larger examples. In M. contracta an interesting variety occurs in which the 

 hind part of the pronotum is very conspicuously pale, so that superficially it greatly 

 resembles typical M. nuda. It is apparently of rare occurrence, four in more than 

 50 examples of the normal form, all taken in company, were observed on one occasion. 

 Meb'arga villosa has the wings reduced to such microscopic rudiments as to be 

 practically apterous, though the tegmina extend to the tip of the body. The other 

 species are well winged. 



The winged species are often notably gregarious, a dozen to scores congregating 

 together at the base of the leaves of a single plant of Freycinetia. The nymphs occur 

 in the same situation, sometimes mixed with the adults. These winged species may 

 also be found on the ground amongst dead leaves or fragments of fern fronds, while 

 the flightless M. villosa seems to have taken entirely to a terrestrial life, and perhaps 

 became flightless in accordance with these habits. It is remarkable that amongst large 

 flocks of one of the winged species (e.g. contracta) one or two examples of another 

 species (fiuda) are sometimes found, so that the flocks are mixed. The odour of the 

 species is disgusting, when a colony is disturbed, and taints the surrounding air. 

 While the representatives of M. nuda that are found on Hawaii, Oahu, and Maui are 

 very similar, it is noteworthy that the Molokai form, although of precisely similar 

 habits, is more distinct in appearance superficially. 



The two species of Orthoea are of small interest, both having been certainly 

 introduced ; one of them, O. nigriceps, was already abundant more than thirty years 

 ago, the other, O. vincta, appeared in 1900, and is already one of the commonest of 

 Oahuan Hemiptera, and has now extended its range to the mountains. The latter is 

 attached to the common foreign grass, Cynodon dactylon, amongst which nymphs in 

 all stages abound amongst the adults. In the youngest nymphs the femoral armature 

 is little or not at all developed. Brachypterous specimens occur in company with the 

 macropterous. I have found nymphs of this or an allied genus, when inspecting plants 

 imported from Fiji. 



Clerada apicicornis is a semi-domestic species, living and breeding freely in dirty 

 houses and cupboards, where cockroaches are allowed to multiply. It also occurs in 

 outhouses frequented by bed-bugs. On the other hand it can adapt itself to diverse 

 conditions, and I have noticed adults and nymphs in numbers in dry sandy localities, 

 living with various common cockroaches, especially Periplaneta, Enthyrrhapha, etc., 

 beneath dead leaves. Curiously enough in the mountains it frequents the bases of the 

 leaves of Freycinetia, like Metrai'ga, and was once found by me in company with these. 

 Sephora criniger is a local but common forest insect, found on various trees, while 

 Nesocymus calvus lives on sedges, nymphs and adults occurring together, often in great 

 numbers. The latter may prove to be not endemic, though it is now widely distributed 



