55 



the very closely allied N. brevipennis nothing very strikingly 

 marked is shown. (16). 



"The colour-divergence between nymph and imago [in myrnn- 

 codes] is also usually marked, so that one who is not fully expe- 

 rienced in these matters will take the blackish, white-spotted 

 nymph, and the plain greyish brown adult for two entirely differ- 

 ent insects, as indeed an early writer (Costa) has done, in describ- 

 ing the nymph as a separate species under the name of Nabis 

 myrmicodes. This marked difference gives us a glance into the 

 mode of life of the bug. While we find tlie species of Nobis, as 

 for example the closely related N. brevipennis, as adults and also 

 as nymphs, in herbage and shrubs, we meet N. lativeufris, on 

 the contrary, with its nymphs, generally crawling on the ground ; 

 thev are also found among clumps of roots of strong plants, and 

 under stones watching for their prey. They appear especially 

 abundant where forest-ants are plentiful ; and have even been 

 found in hills of Lasius fidiginosus. 



"The Nabis-group belongs to the Familv Reduviidae [rather, 

 superfamily Nepoideae G. W. K.] consisting of carnivorous 

 insects, which are among the most terrible of predators in the 

 insect world. It is then not to be doubted that these Myrmeco- 

 phanous nymphs prey upon insects and especiallv upon ants. 

 Masked by its wonderful 'myrmecophanism,' the Nabis-nymvih., 

 a v/olf in sheep's clothing, steals up to the approaching ant who 

 believes she is being met by a sister-ant, seizes her with the fore 

 legs which are especiallv well equipped and adapted to catch 

 and retain the prey, and with its awl-shaped and crooked pro- 

 bo.scis bores into the body (17). At any rate we have here to 

 do with aggressive mimicry." 



(16). "All of the Nabis-nymphs known to me show, as indeed is 

 common in the Hemiptera, the colour markings of their adults, usual- 

 ly a purer or darker yellow or, as in brevipennis, a monochromatic 

 dark brown, with a slight' copper tinge." [Although Breddin is quite 

 mistaken about most of the nymphal Hemiptera being coloured like 

 their adults, his remarks on this in Reduviolus are confirmed very 

 largely by my own above on Hawaiian forms. G. W. K.]. 



(17). Breddin has mixed up the form of the labium in Reduviidae 

 with that in Nabidae. It is also not the labium that bores. I do 

 not believe that the Reduviolus preys on the ants. It rather takes 

 advanrage of its likeness to ihe ants to irar.-.ue othoi- prey which the 

 ants do not attack, and which therefore would not try to escape, till 

 too late; or perhaps it is left alone by the ants on their marauding 

 expeditions. This is however a subject for observation rather than 

 guessing. 



