LACE-BUG GENERA — DRAKE AND RUHOFF 5 



In the subfamily Tinginae, members of many genera at times are 

 said to "run wild" structurally in the development of unique and 

 fanciful forms of specific designs in lacework. The pepper tingid 

 (fig. 1) of the South Pacific is only one of hundreds of such creations. 

 Many species in other genera are at least just as ornately clothed 

 and befittingly decorated in singular lacy structures. There are no 

 replicas nor facsimiles among species, because each species possesses 

 its own form, pattern, and style of lacework. Both generic and 

 specific characters used in the identification of lace-bugs are based 

 largely upon lacy structures. Only with the aid of illustrations can 

 such unequaled oddities of intricate lacework be described adequately 

 for taxonomic studies. 



Figure 1. — Nesocypselas piperica Drake, the black pepper lace bug. 



