102 t^'^y- 



ON THE GENUS CACODMUS. 

 BY THE HON. N. CHARLES ROTHSCHILD, M.A., F.Z.S. 



Ill a previous number of this Journal (vf. Eut. Mo. Mag., Vol. 

 XLVIII, pp. 85 — 86, 1912) I described a new species of Gacodmus, 

 and compared it with C. villosns. Siuc-e this article was published 

 another new species has been described, and I have been able to examine 

 further material of C. viUosus. 



These insects seem to be so extremely rare, and are of such great 

 interest, both to specialists and to general entomologists, that a review 

 of our present knowledge of the genus seems desirable. 



The genus Cacodmus belongs to the sub-iabiaily Cacodmiiix, one of 

 the three divisions into which the various members of the Glinocoridie, 

 or bed bugs, can be readily divided. All the known species of this 

 genus are parasites of bats, and, so far, none have been recorded from 

 the New World. 



Dr. Jordan and myself {cf. Novit. Zoolog., Vol. XIX, pp. 352 — 356, 

 191 2) have defined this sul)-faiiiily as follows :— 



Proboscis at most reaching in between the fore-coxte. The large bristles 

 dentate only at the tip, not on the convex side. Mesosternum sniitriangular. 

 Metasternnm more or less lozenge-shaped or ovate, tapering forward, much 

 longer than it is broad, about as wide as the mid-femur. Raised mesial portion 

 of basal abdominal sternite narrowing anteriorly. Eighth abdominal segment 

 of ^ almost symmetrical. 



While the characters of the genus are : — 



Bristles long, most of the lateral ones of the pronotum longer than the first 

 segment of the antennae. Tibiae without pseudo-joints. Second segment of 

 proboscis longer than fourth. 



In my previous paper I stated that I had only been able to examine 

 three specimens of G. villosus, Stal, two of these being in the British 

 and one in the Cambridge Museum ; but through the kindness of 

 Professor B. Yngve Sjoestedt I have seen Stal's type, which is conserved 

 in the Stockholm Museum. Five examples, taken from Ve^pertUio 

 (Eptesicus) capensis in South Africa, were received in Helsingfors by 

 Dr. Reutei-. It will therefore be noted that the type and seven other 

 specimens of this rare insect are known. The Cambridge example, 

 which is ill bad condition, is probably not true villosus, but represents 

 a closely allied but distinct insect. 



The most recently described species is G. indicns, taken from a bat 

 at Khandala, Bombay Presidency, India. 



