INTEODITCTION. 



RHYNCHOTA. 



This volume is the first of a series designed to afford means of 

 recognizing members of that large gi'oup of Insects, the Rbynchota, 

 or Bugs, of British India. Scattered papers on the subject by 

 various entomologists have appeared from time to time, and my 

 late and much respected friend, Mr. E. T. Atkinson, commenced 

 a full descriptive enumeration of the fauna in his " Notes on 

 Indian Rhynchota" which he published in the Journal of the 

 Asiatic Society of Bengal. This good work only reached, so far 

 as the Heteroptera were concerned, the end of the Family 

 Pentatomidae, and was prepared at Calcutta under great limitation, 

 away from collections and consequent facilities for comparison. 

 Since the publication of Mr. Atkinson's "Notes," much more 

 material has become available, and with an increased interest in 

 these insects we may expect many and large additions to be made 

 to our knowledge of the fauna. 



The material principally used in this publication comprises the 

 following fine collections : — A very representative one, said to have 

 been made some years ago by Dr. Leith at and near Bombay, 

 though it seems probable that some of the specimens were obtained 

 from Sind. Dr. Stoliczka's collection made during the Second 

 Tarkand Mission, which I worked out in 1879, proved of the 

 greatest importance in showing the Paloearctic affinities of this 

 region. Another, and perhaps the best and largest ever brought 

 together by one collector, was that made by Mr. A. W. Chennell 

 in the Assam Hills, and brought to this country in 1879, a 

 representative set of which passed into my possession. The late 

 Mr. Doherty also sent me all the lihynchota he procured in Assam 

 and Burma ; while from the last locality I have been allowed by 

 Dr. Gesti'o, of the Genoa Museum, to examine the fine collection 

 made by Signor Yea. To Sir G. F. Hampson I am indebted for his 

 captures in the Nilgiri Hills ; and to Mr. li. M. Dixon of Bomba)^ 

 I am under similar obligation for species collected at the Bor Ghat, 

 with many valuable notes which I have incorporated under his 

 name in the text. Dr. Alcoek has forwarded to me for investi- 

 gation and determination the extensive collection contained in the 



