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Genus Holoptilus. 
rowed, and the posterior, thrice as broad as the head, with the 
sides rounded. The scutellum is small and triangular. The 
hemelytra are large, and extend beyond the abdomen, the corium 
being very small and basal, with two thick nerves united obliquely 
behind. The apical membrane is very large, and of a somewhat 
leathery consistence. In II. Lemur and fuscus the membrane is 
furnished with strong nerves, but in II. ursus they are almost ob- 
literated. The wings, the existence of which is denied by Saint 
Fargeau, are of a very small size in II. ursus and destitute of 
nerves. They are of a larger size in II. Lemur, with three longi- 
tudinal nerves. The legs are slender and thickly setose, the four 
anterior being of a moderate size, but the posterior are longer, the 
tibia especially being elongated and curved, and very densely 
clothed with hairs, which in H. Lemur and fuscus are of a woolly 
appearance, but in H. ursus they are rigid setae. At the tip of 
the anterior tibiae are several rigid setae on the inside, but these 
are not to be compared to the cushion at the tips of the anterior 
tibiae of some of the Reduviidce. The tarsi have been hitherto 
described as three-jointed, but after a very careful examination I 
can only detect two joints, the basal being very minute and ob- 
liquely truncate, and the terminal joint long and clavate in the 
four anterior legs, but broad in the posterior pair. This is the 
structure in II. Lemur and ursus. The abdomen is short, broad, 
and rounded ; its ventral surface very convex, and consisting of 
five joints in the male and of six in the female. 
The genus was established by Saint Fargeau and Serville, in 
the tenth volume of the Encyclopedic Methodique, p. 280, for the 
reception of a small insect from the Cape of Good Hope, II. ursus. 
It was placed without hesitation in the family Reduviidce or Nudi- 
colles. The antennae of the typical species were described as 
three-jointed only. 
Subsequently Gray, in the Zoological Miscellany (1831, p. 34), 
proposed a new genus, under the name of Ptilocerus,* for another 
insect, discovered in India by General Hardwicke, and of which 
a highly magnified drawing is preserved in his series of figures of 
Indian insects now in the British Museum. The genus was 
stated to be most allied to Holoptilus, but the antenna is four- 
jointed. 
The not very appropriate specific name of Ptilocerus fuscus was 
given to the type. Laporte, Comte de Castelnau, in his Revision 
of the Ilemiptera (p. 7), introduced the genus amongst the Rcdu- 
Ptilocerus, a genus of exotic Diptera described by Wiedemann. 
