MISCELLANEA. 



INSECTS. 



The occurrence of Dactylopius rJiri, Risso, in the Hima- 

 I.AYAS. — On May 27th last year, while collecting insects in 

 the Himalayas, I met with a number of nymphs of a Coccid in 

 the nests of a small black species of ant. The nests were con- 

 structed under loose stones on a mountain-side ac elevations vary- 

 ing from approximately 12,300 to ^ 2,500 feet. The locality 

 was about 5 miles north-west of Badrinath, near the Satopanth 

 Glacier in Garhwal. Some of the nymphs were sent to Mr. E. E. 

 Green of Peradeniya who identified them as belonging to the cos- 

 mopolitan species Dactylopius citri, Risso, and remarked that it 

 occurs commonly in ants' nests in Ceylon. The species secretes a 

 honey-dew similar to that of Aphides, and is farmed by a number 

 of species of ants. The distribution of this insect at this elevation 

 is a fact of some interest, and I may add that the locality from 

 which it was obtained is seldom visited by man, though it is less 

 than 4 miles from the entrance to theMana Pass into Tibet. 



A. D. Imms. 

 Muir College, University of Allahabad, 20-iv-ii. 



Note on Aquatic Rhynchota. — Two new species (each re- 

 presenting a new genus) of marine Rhynchota have recently been 

 described by Mr. W. L- Distant from the Andaman Sea [Ann. 

 Mag. Nat. Hist. (8), v, pp. 146, 147; Faun. Brit. Ind. — Rhyn- 

 chota, v, pp. 154 155, figs. 82, 83); but unfortunately the speci- 

 mens figured, having originally been preserved in alcohol, were 

 evidently dried before being drawn, with the result that they have 

 been represented in a shrivelled condition. The acquisition of 

 fresh specimens enables me to add the following supplementary 

 particulars to Mr. Distant 's descriptions : — 



Euratas formidahilis, Dist. 



Specimens of both sexes were taken by Mr. S. W. Kemp on 

 the surface of a backwater at Vizagapatam on the Coromandel 

 Coast in April, 1910, and were preserved dry. They are somewhat 

 stouter and smoother in appearance than Mr. Distant' s figure 

 would suggest and the impressions on the collar represented as 

 deep pits are obsolescent. The colour is somewhat darker than 

 that of de-alcoholized specimens. 



