MIMICRY 233 



paralysing them with its powerful sting, so it is 

 obvious that few, if any, insect enemies would care to 

 tackle an insect of such powers. The Longicorn 

 mimics of these Fossors have the elytra considerably 

 reduced, so that the large wings are easily seen even 

 when the beetles are not flying ; in their rather 

 buzzing and noisy flight, and habit of curving the 

 abdomen down when seized, they copy the wasps 

 very closely, and I have seen my Dayak collectors 

 take the greatest precautions when transferring one of 

 these species of Nothopeus from the net to the killing- 

 bottle ; nothing that I could say would persuade them 

 that the beetles did not sting. 1 In the Necydalince 

 are three species mimicking Hymenoptera, viz. Psebena 

 brevipennis, resembling a Braconid of the genus 

 Myosoma, Epania singaporensis, which as already 

 noticed resembles a Dammar Bee ; and E. sarawakensis, 

 which is like an ant. Ants are also mimicked by two 

 tiny species of the sub-family Tillomorphince. 



We now come to those Longicorns which .mimic 

 other families of beetles. A very large number of 

 beetles which spend much of their life on the trunks 

 of trees are mottled in shades of grey and brown, so 

 that they harmonize closely with their background : 

 such are many of the Anthribidce and Curculionidas, 

 and a great number of Longicorns are similarly 

 coloured. Though it cannot be said that the Longi- 

 corns are exactly like the other beetles, they resemble 

 each other simply because all are coloured to look 

 like lichen-covered bark. This is not true mimicry, 

 but is known as syncryptic colouring. 



1 Dr. Longstaff records a similar experience with a Longicorn 

 beetle near Sydney, N.S.W., Butterfly-hunting, p. 485, PI. VI. figs. 8, 9. 



