412 CAPSID.E. 



Family CAPSID^. 



This is an extremely large family, of \\hiclj, apart from the 

 Palajarctic aud Xearctic species, aud a considerable number of 

 genera and species from Central America, our knowledge is sHU 

 fragmentary. 



The Capsidae comprise insects with a more or less soft integument, 

 but with most variable structural chai'acters. The head is rarely 

 provided with ocelli ; the antennae are four-jointed, the first joint 

 usually the stoutest, and the third and fourth the most slender, but 

 this is not an iuAariable rule ; the rostrum is four-jointed, and one 

 of the best and most distinctive characters is found in the presence 

 of a cuneus, or more or less triangidar semi-detached piece at the 

 apex of the corium. 



It has been generally supposed that the Capsidoe subsist ex- 

 clusively on the juices of plants, trees, and fruits, but this is not 

 a universal habit. Eecords have long existed as to the predatory 

 habits of some species on other insects, and this information has 

 been well garnered and published by Renter (Ent. Month. Mag. 

 1003, p. 121). Another characteristic of the family is the 

 wonderful simulation by many species of insects of other orders, 

 especially of ants. 



Of the Palsearctic Capsida? we know most, and of those belonging 

 to the European section our knowledge is the most complete, and 

 this largely owing to the work of Eeuter. The Nearctic repre- 

 sentatives are also fairly well worked, and the present writer 

 has described a large number of species from Central America. 

 Of the Ethiopian Capsida? very little is known ; while, for the 

 Oriental Eegion, the following pages contain b}^ far the largest 

 enumeration of genera and species. Some Australasian species 

 have recently been described, but the Capsidje of this gi*eat region 

 are practically unrecorded. 



One of the most considerable aids to the study of the whole 

 family was afforded by the late E. T. Atkinson, who, in 1890 

 (Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng. Iviii, pt. 2, Suppl.), published a catalogue 

 of the described species and genera to the year 1889. Considering 

 that this work was prepared and published in Calcutta, it is some- 

 what remarkable how comparatively few are the omissions and 

 errors which it contains, and it remains a witness to the loss 

 ^^hich the study of Ehynchota sustained in the premature death 

 of its compiler. 



The classification of the family is largely dependent on the 

 work and propositions of Eeuter, who has made the Capsidae a 

 special study, and I have endeavoured to follow his arrangement 

 as far as my own views will allow ; but at present the classification 

 of the family is more reflective of personal opinion, and contrived 

 for the purposes of entomological arrangement, than exhibiting an 



