53 



at least in the later stages, the first segment Demg minute ; the 

 claws are long and subequal. The ant-like appearance of one 

 of the exotic species of Rcdnviolus has been long known, but 

 none of the Hawaiian forms show any resemblance of this 

 nature ; they are always found in the same sort of place as their 

 adults. R. kcraspJwros is recognizable by the thickened first 

 segment of the antennae, but has not the cephalic horns of the 

 adult. R. tarai and tniculeutus by their pattern and colouring, 

 as recorded in their specific descriptions further on ; R. suhrufiis 

 is very red ; R. capsifonnis is slender and pale yellowish with a 

 percurrent red line down the middle ; R. lusciostts is brownish 

 yellow : but I have not observed any special structural char- 

 acters, except in R. kcrasphoros, with its thickened antennae. 



Dr. D. Sharp has described and figured (1^ ) the nymph of 

 7^. iiiyrinicodcs (under the name of Nabis lafivcitfris), showing 

 'ts ant-like appearance, as before mentioned, and observing "it 

 is strange that this curious case of resemblance should hitherto 

 have escaped notice." As Poulton has also recently (H) writ- 

 ten, "It is remarkable that so interesting a form of mimicry in 

 such, a common insect should have been undescribed until so 

 late as 1899," it is evident that a summary of the literature v/ill 

 not be out of place here. 



In 1834 O. G. Costa described a new species of Rcdnviolus 

 under the name of Nabis myrmicodcs (12) ; as his description 

 was based upon a nymph, it is allowable to infer that his atten- 

 tion had been drawn to the ant-like appearance of the bug. I 

 have, however, not seen a copy of his rare paper, and do not 

 know the details; 1 am not even sure that the reference given 

 is correct. 



In 1879 O. M. Renter (who has just recently, after a life de- 

 voted to Science, and especially to the Hemiptera, been afflicted 

 by total blindness), published a valuable summary, with much 

 new matter, of what was known on the subject of "Mimicry" 

 in Hemiptera, entitled "Till kannedomen om mimiska Hemip- 

 tera och deras lefnads historia" (l^^t. With reference to Rcdn- 

 violus myrmicodes, which, according to the nomenclature in 

 vogue at that time, he called "Coriscus lativciitris," he says : 

 "This species is not a mimic in the adult state, but is an exceed- 

 ingly good one as a nymph or larva. Nymphs of this have even 



(10). D. Sharp, 1899, Cambr. Nat. Hist., VI, 556-7, f. 269. 

 (11). Poulton, 1908, Essays on Evolution. 1889-1907, pp. 257-8. 

 (12). O. G. Costa, 1834. Cenni Zool. xii, Tl ; (I have not seen this). 

 (13). Reuter, 1879, Oefv. Finsk. Forh., 1878-9, pp. 141-199, (the 

 notes on Reduviolus are on pp. 189-90). 



(14). Breddin, 1896, Zeitschr. fur Naturwiss, LXIX. 33-5, PL I, f. 10. 



