1917.] 251 



TWO ADDITIONS TO THE LIST OF BRITISH HEMIPTERA- 

 HETEROPTERA. 



BY E. A. BUTLER, B.A., B.Sc-, F.E.S. 



I have lately received from two correspondents in Cumberland, 

 Messrs. F. H. Day and Jas. Murray, five specimens of a Capsid new to 

 the IJritish list, Orthotylus virens Fall. Mr. Day sends both 6 and $ , 

 taken on sallows at Cumwhitton Moss, 12.vii.'17 ; Mr. Murray a single 

 d" , taken on alder at Spa Well on the River Eden, 23.vii.'l7. The two 

 localities are about 12 or 13 miles apart, and the discovery was made by 

 the two observers quite independently of one another. Mr. Day has 

 kindly presented me with two of his specimens. 



Th« sexes of 0. virens are unlike ; the (J is elongate, parallel-sided, dull 

 green above, with long, scattered, pale pubescence, and black beneath, some- 

 times variegated with yellowish or greenish ; head inclining to fuscous, 

 sometimes black, but with yellowish margins to the eyes ; vertex carinated ; 

 pronotum trapezoidal with sides sinuate, transversely striated behind the 

 callosities; callosities and base of scutellum more or less fuscous (this colour 

 sometimes extends over the whole of both pronotum and scutellum) ; extreme 

 base of corium and apex of cuneus yellow ; membrane blackish, with cell- 

 nerves partly luteous, and a hyaline spot in smaller cell and at apex of cuneus ; 

 rostrum yellowish, with apex black ; antennae black, nearly as long as body ; 

 legs yellowish-green, with apex and extreme base of tibiae fuscous ; tarsi black ; 

 genital segment very large, right forceps with a strong spine on outer margin. 



The 5 is much like that sex in O. Jlavinervis, but smaller and narrower, 

 and with pubescence longer and more scattered, not parallel-sided as in c?, 

 but slightly rounded, light green above and beneath, the abdomen only being 

 slightly infuscated ; head and callosities of pronotum yellowish, especially after 

 death ; membrane not so dark as in cj" , and with yellowish nervures to the cells ; 

 pubescence, rostrum, and legs as in cJ ; antennae greenish testaceous, last two 

 joints black. 



The length given by Renter is S 5j-5| mm., $ 5 mm. ; our British 

 specimens are a little smaller than this, barely reaching 5 mm. 



On the Continent, this insect occurs on sallow, and has been found 

 in Scandinavia, Finland, Northern Eussia, France, Germany, Hungary, 

 and Rumania, and also in Siberia; it is, therefore, mainly a northern 

 species. As several species which occur on sallows are also found on 

 alder, there is no reason why alder, as recorded by Mr. Murray, should 

 not be a food-plant as well as sallow ; but Mr. Murray tells me that, 

 though the alder-tree stood alone, there was a sallow not far oft", and 

 hence the occurrence on alder may be merely casual. Mr. Day reports 

 that in his locality the insect was fairly common on sallows and on the 

 herbage beneath them, although he did not take more than four ; 

 the localit}', he says, is "a typical Cumberland peat-moss." 



