•Oct.,ig2o Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society 99 



Of these diagnostic characteristics Bergroth in a later note 

 places particular emphasis on the following: structure of the 

 tarsi, venter of the abdomen and the membranous tibial ap- 

 pendages. 



Dr. Reuter, 1912,^ raises this subfamily to distinct family rank, 

 making it even the basis of a new phalanx and agreeing with Dr. 

 Bergroth that it represents a very old and primitive group, geo- 

 logically. In his arrangement of the families Reuter, following 

 Bergroth, gives the distinctive characters which translated read 

 as follows : 



" Claws destitute of arolia. Apex of tibia between the two- 

 segmented tarsi furnished with a membranous lobuliform 

 caducous appendage, somewhat distant from the tarsi. Mem- 

 brane without nervures. Venter of the male furnished with 

 eight visible segments (besides the genital), the last two ven- 

 trally and the genital asymmetrical ; female furnished with 

 seven visible segments, seventh large covering the genital seg- 

 ment below." 



It is quite natural that Reuter who has made such extensive 

 use of the aroHa in his system of classification of the Miridse 

 should see special significance in their absence in this group and 

 make this a character of the first importance coupled with the 

 pecuHar tibial appendage. The peculiar formation of the abdo- 

 men is placed secondary. 



Up to the present time, so far as I have been able to find, our 

 knowledge of this family has been limited to these two genera 

 each represented by a single species from the Australian region. 



Some months ago I received for investigation from Mr. Harold 

 Morrison of the U. S. Bureau of Entomology a number of spec- 

 imens from Cuba representing a distinct genus which owing to 

 its close resemblance in most particulars to Kirkaldy's Thaumas- 

 focoris must belong to this family. In order however to admit 

 the inclusion of this interesting little species in this family it will 

 be necessary to create for it a new subfamily and revise the char- 

 acterization of the family, as this Cuban species has arolia pres- 

 ent on the tarsal claws and the tibiae lack apical membranous ap- 

 pendages. 



3 Ofv. Finska Vet. Soc. Forh., LIV, 10, 29-31, 58. 1912. 



