XXV. THE INSECT FAUNA OF TIRHUT. 



I.— RHYNCHOTA HETEROPTERA. 



By H. MaxwelvLefroy, M.A., F.E.S., F.Z.S., 

 Iinpevial Entomologist. 



INTRODUCTION. 



In another place {Indian Insect Life) I have discussed the 

 general difference there is between the insect fauna of tropical 

 India, and that of the sub- tropical moist hill slopes. I have also 

 indicated the faunal zones of India as I believe they occur with 

 regard to insects. In this memoir, a beginning is being made to 

 elaborate these subjects, first by enumerating the insect fauna of a 

 place lying well within the tropical area, secondlj^ by contrasting 

 that fauna, as far as ma}' be, with neighbouring tropical areas and 

 b}^ discussing its origin. As is abundantl}' clear from a perusal of 

 the localities in the " Fauna of India," nearly all the species are 

 from sub-tropical or temperate places, very few from tropical India. 

 The localities in the ''Fauna" volumes do not, except in such 

 as have been published so recently as to include our collections, 

 enable us to contrast the tropical and sub-tropical faunae ; but the 

 enumeration of the fauna of one spot, very carefuU}' worked for a 

 series of years, will afford some data. 



The regional faunae of India are, except in Lepidoptera, verj^ 

 little known; a compiled list of the fauna of one place (with other 

 records of occurrence in tropical localities) will therefore be of 

 permanent value ; we have the material for all orders; we hope to 

 do the Aculeate Hymenoptera, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera and Rhyn- 

 chota Homoptera; we also hope to do the remaining orders, when 

 we have secured the co-operation of systematists in working out our 

 collections. 



In this memoir, I enumerate the Heteropterous fauna of Pusa, 

 following the order of the volumes on Rhynchota, b}^ \\\ L. 

 Distant, in the '' Fauna of India" ; I give other localities from which 

 specimens have been collected and are in the Pusa collections, 

 giving dates of capture where possible. I have included species 

 found at Chapra by Mr. M. ^Mackenzie where we have not found 

 thenj, as Chapra lies in the same area. Pusa lies in the " Gangetic 

 Plain, West," north of the Ganges, in the Tirhut division of 

 Bengal; it is at a distance of over 50 miles from the Himalayas, 

 and so is well removed from any sub-tropical area ; it lies nearly 40 

 miles north of the Ganges, and is in a flat, densely cultivated tract 

 which should have a uniform fauna (see Indian Insect Life, 

 page 25). 



