298 



hâve much in common with the Berytidœ and seem to be an 

 offspring of them or are at least more related to them than to any 

 other group of the Heteroptera. In my opinion there is every 

 reason to elevate both the Colobathristidœ and the Berytidœ to 

 family rank. 



fn the Coreidœ, Pyrrhocoridœ and many groups of the Myodochidœ 

 there is on either side near the middle base of the second and 

 Ihird (or at least the second) ventral segment a group of small 

 glandnlar spots, the exact nature of which is unknown. Their 

 number is usually three in each group, but sometimes there are 

 four. Each spot bears an exserted sensorial hair which easily cornes 

 olï' and is présent only in well preserved spécimens. No or little 

 attention bas hitherto been paid to them by writers on systematic 

 Hemipterology, but their number and position to each other do in 

 many cases offer good spécifie and even generic characters. As they 

 are présent also in the Colobathristidœ, I hâve mentioned them in 

 the descriptions of the new gênera given below. — To the family 

 characters should be added : Bucculse nullae vel rudimentaria\ 

 Pedes antici et postici subcontigui, medii leviter distantes. 



14 gênera and 59 species are hitherto known of this family, 8 of 

 the gênera being monotypical Their geographical distribution is 

 very remarkable. They are strictly tropical insects and their centre 

 of distribution in the Old World is New Guinea, in the New World 

 the high plateaus of Peru and Bolivia. No species has yet been 

 fourni west of Birma nor in Ceylon, the Hemipterous fauna of 

 which is now fairly well known. In Africa they are totally missing 

 and no species can be expected to occur there. As they are rather 

 large and conspicuous insects, very many of them cannot hâve 

 been overlooked in countries outside their now known geographical 

 limits and thèse limits will probably not hâve to be extended much 

 through future explorations, although sundry new forms will 

 doubtless still be- detected. Even a moderate knowledge of what 

 family or families of plants serve thèse insects for food would 

 possibly throw some light on their distribution, but unfortunately 

 aimost nothing is known on this point. One species is reported to 

 hâve been injurious to the sugar-plantations in Java, but whether 

 Saccharum is the original food-plant of this species seems doubtfnl. 

 No genus is common to the New and Old World, but the gênera of 

 one hémisphère do not forai a group sharply separated from those 

 of the other, barely showing generic différences. 



In one neotropical genus, represented by nine species, there is a 

 marked dimorphism in the maies. This dimorphism is of a most 

 singular and bewildering nature and unique among the Heteroptera. 

 In this genus the normal maies hâve longer antennœ than the 



