4 Introduction 



printed at the end of the work. To all of these I wish to extend my most 

 sincere thanks. 



The Pyrrhocoridae constitute one of the smaller families of the Hemip- 

 tera, only 360 species being known at the present time. The majority of 

 these are of medium size or larger, and many of them are brilliantly 

 colored, so it is safe to say that a great number of Pyrrhocorids still await 

 discovery. The family is primarily tropical and subtropical in its distribu- 

 tion; and careful collecting, with attention concentrated on the less con- 

 spicuous forms, will doubtless bring to light many species which thus far 

 have not been detected. 



The genus Pyrrhocoris alone presents an exception to the general dis- 

 tribution of the family: it is strictly Palaearctic in its range, and several 

 of its species endure the rigorous climate of Siberia. The common Pyr- 

 rhocoris apterus, so abundant in Europe, has also been reported from 

 Madras and New Jersey, and is well established in Costa Rica according to 

 Pittier and Biolley (1895), but its adventitious nature in these localities can 

 not be questioned. Similarly, the Australian Dindymus versicolor is recorded 

 from New Zealand, but Myers (1925) states that no Pyrrhocorid is es- 

 tablished in those islands; so that this appears also to be an adventitious 

 form insofar as New Zealand is concerned. And Kirkaldy (1902) was 

 unable to confirm earlier reports of the occurrence of a Pyrrhocorid, 

 Dysdercus peruvianus, in Hawaii. 



About one-third of all the known species, and more than half the genera 

 of the Pyrrhocoridae, occur in the Indo-Malayan region, which thus 

 appears to be the primary center of distribution of the family. Dispersal 

 has occurred northward through the Philippines to Formosa and Japan, 

 eastward and southward through the Moluccas and New Guinea to Aus- 

 tralia and so to Oceanica, and westward to Africa, if not to America as well. 

 There are several genera which occur both in Africa and in Indo-Malaya; 

 and related myrmecoid genera have appeared in both regions. 



The great majority of the palaeogeic species belong to the subfamily 

 Pyrrhocorinae, which is represented in America only by the wide-ranging 

 genus Dysdercus. Otherwise, the American Pyrrhocoridae constitute a 

 group which is very distinct from the Old World forms of the family, as 

 will appear below. In this subfamily also myrmecoid forms have appeared, 

 notably Arhaphe, Japetus, and the singular Brazilian Thaumastaneis, the 

 latter approaching very near to the Myodochine L3'gaeidae. 



The affinities of the Pyrrhocoridae with the Lygaeidae have long been 

 recognized. Until the beginning of the present century this family was very 

 generally considered as a mere subfamily of the Lygaeidae, and was placed 

 at the end of that group in numerous catalogues. However, its independent 

 family rank as recognized by Renter, Horvath, Bergroth and other recent 

 writers, can not be denied. I would go even farther than this, as it is my 



