294 Mr. W. L. Distant on Bhynchota from the 



group of Cats we have all the intermediate steps in size 

 between the teeth of Felis catus and Felis jjca-dus, though the 

 animals themselves do not vary greatly in size and are not 

 much larger than the former ; they form a very distinct 

 group, the skulls not being easily confused witii those of any 

 other Cat. 



XXXIV. — Rhynchota from the Transvaal^ Mashonaland^ and 

 British Nyasaland. By W. L. DISTANT. 



Part I. 



This paper refers to the Heteropterous family Pentatomidae, 

 and is based on my own and other collections acquired in the 

 Transvaal ; one made near Salisbury, Mashonaland, by 

 Mr. Guy A. K. Marshall; and another received from 

 Dr. Percy Kendall, when that excellent collector sojourned 

 in Nyasaland. These three collections are enumerated 

 separately. 



Since I last wrote a faunistic paper on the Rhynchota some 

 parts have appeared of the ' Catalogue G^ndral des Hdmi- 

 pt^res ' by Lethierry and Sevcrin, and as this publication in 

 its arrangement generally reflects the present views of most 

 hemiplerists, and will probably be accepted as a convenient 

 standard of classification and nomenclature, it is followed 

 here. It is largely based on the excellent work achieved by 

 the late Dr. C. Stal, whose ' Enumeratio Hemipterorum ' has 

 long held the ground, and is even now not altogether super- 

 seded, but rather brought up to date by tiie thorough work of 

 the above catalogue so far as it has yet been published. 

 After all, there is no finality in classification. As it has been 

 well observed — " He that has fewest faults is the best man ; 

 and so it is with scientific systems." 



In this first family, Pentatomid^e, the following species are 

 enumerated for the three localities : — 



Species. Sp. nov. Gen. nov. 



Transvaal 120 16 2 



Mashonaland 36 5 1 



Britisli Nyasaland 45 8 2 



Some interesting facts in geographical distribution become 

 apparent. Thus Nezara pallido-conspersa, Stal, a species 

 hitherto recorded from Madagascar, I took myself at Pretoria ; 

 the West- African species Buhyccelia huonopoziensis, Pal. 



