408 



COEEID.i:. 



rig. 240. — Bulkhius wfla/us. 



G66. Dulichius inflatus, Ku-ln/ (Formic oris), J. Linn.Soc, Zool. xxiv,. 

 p. 122, pi. iv, ff. 17 & Via (1891); Ber(jr. Entom. Month. Mag. 

 1892, p. 126. 

 Dulichius wroughtoni, Beryr. Entom. Month. Mug. 1892, p. 107. 



" Dull black, coriaceous, veiy finely pubescent ; tegmina abbrevi- 

 ated, not extending beyond 

 the contracted base of the ab- 

 domen, longitudinally ridged, 

 and \\\\X\ very large punctures 

 bet\^■een , the outer tips whitish; 

 pronotum with a strong spine 

 on each side at the base ot the 

 tegmina, and a third rising 

 between them at the tip of 

 the scutellum ; tarsi whitish, 

 the last joint on the four 

 posterior legs darker ; abdo- 

 men smooth, shining, sHghtly 

 iridescent, sericeous (red in 

 immature specimen) ; last 

 joint of antennae testaceous.'^ 

 (Kirby.) This description 

 refers to Kirby's type, which 

 is figured above. 



Length S to 11 millim. 

 Eah. Poona ; Nilgiri Hills ( Wronr/Jiton). Calcutta, Barrackpore 

 (Bothnei/). Ceylon; 'Sitagala (Green). 



Mr. Wroughton sent specimens of this remarkable insect for 

 exhibition at the Entomological Society, with the following note : — 

 " I have taken a good many specimens of a bug which has achieved, 

 a very fair imitation of FolyrrhacMs s^nniger (under the same stone 

 with which it may be found), even to the extent of evolving a 

 pedicle and spines in what, were it an ant, would be its metauotum. 

 Curiously enough, however, these spines are apparently not alike 

 in any two specimens. Is it that the bug is still waiting for one 

 of its race to accidentally sport spines more like those of P. spiniger,. 

 and thus to set the ball of evolution rolling afresh ? or is it that 

 the present rough copy of spiniger s spines is found sufficient to 

 deceive ? " Mr.Eothney remarked : — "■ I have not found the species 

 mimicking Mutilla : but in Calcutta and Barrackpore, where 

 P. spiniger is a tree-ant, forming its net by spinning together the 

 twigs of a shrub, the mimicking bug also assumes arboreal habits, 

 and may be found on the trunks of trees with the ants " (Proc. 

 Ent. 8oc. 1891, pp. xvii, xviii). Dr. Bergroth, however, makes 

 the pertinent remark, " Mr. Wroughton has only found the 

 brachypterous form. If the species has a macropterous form, it is 

 probable that the form has little or no resemblance to an ant " 

 (Ent. Month. Mag. 1892, p. 107). 



