100 LA.BIDUIlIDiE. 



posterior half. Wings yellowish, well developed or rudimentary. 

 Legs long, yellowish. Abdomen tawny, the dorsal surface reddish. 

 Last dorsal segment ample, smooth, yellowish, quadrate ; 

 posterior margin armed with two acute points (often absent). 

 Penultimate ventral segment of c? obtusely triangular, the apex 

 truncate ; in $ apex rounded. Forceps tawny, darker towards 

 apex ; in the J the branches are remote at the base, elongate, gently 

 and regularly curved inwards, cylindrical, with a keel above near 

 the base ; towards the base on the inner margin there is often a 

 tooth, sometimes very strong, sometimes obsolete. In the 2 

 the forceps are subcontiguous, straight and denticulate along the 

 inner margin, especially near the base. 



d 2 



Length of body 14-24 mm. 14-20 mm. 



forceps .... 3-25-12 „ 3-5 „ 



Sink : Karachi (Paris Mus., Brit. 3Jus., coll. Bxirr) : Uxitet> 

 Provinces: Dehra Dun, Kathgodam ; Sikkim: Darjiling (i-'am 

 Mus.) ; Bengal : Pusa, Berhampur, Calcutta, Comilla {Ind. IIiis.) ; 

 Oeissa : Balasor (Paris 3his.) ; Mysore : Bangalore (Ind. 3Ins.) ; 

 Bombay : (Paris Mus., Brit. Mtis., coll. Burr) ; Madras : Pondi- 

 cherrv {Paris Mus.) ; Ceylon: Ambegamraoa and Kala Wewa 

 (coll. Burr) ; BtJRMA : Teinzo in June; Kyonk-Myaung in April ; 

 Bhamo in July to August ; Senmyingyan in February ; from 

 Tenang to Mandalay in June; Karen-ni, Keba District, 3000- 

 5000 ft., January to April (Genoa Mus.). 



Var. inermis, Briinner. 



Bengal : Calcutta, Berhampur, Purneah District, Pusa (IncL 

 Mus.) ; Ceylon -. Hamhantota (very dark form, Fletcher). 



This cosmopolitan species is exceedingly plastic, numerous 

 names having been given, as even the abridged synonymy will show. 

 Whether these forms are " species " or not is a matter of personal 

 opinion, or rather of convenience, but the names are now so 

 numerous that it is difficult to assign the correct forms to them. 

 The following are the main points of variation : — 



(i.) Size. This \^'ill be seen from the dimensions given. The form 

 described by Kirby from Santarem (Amazons) has a total 

 length of 51 mm. 



(ii.) Intensity of colour. The typical form of Pallas is evidently 

 the pale Palsarctic type ; when alive this is almost white, but 

 after death the specimen assumes that dirty ta^^•ny colour 

 with \\ hich we are so familiar from cabinet specimens. Some 

 from Japan, Russia, and the Philippines are nearly black, and 

 others from Australia are of a uniform pale tawny. 



(iii.) Colour of the head. This varies from pale yellowish to 

 black. 



(iv.) Colour of the pronotum. Varies from tawny to black, often 

 with a pale border or median reddish stripe. 



