330 



Easahus, Amyot & Serv. 

 1. R. higuttatiis. 



PefaJocldrus hiijuttatus, Say, Ins. of Louisiana, 13 ; Heteropt. New Harmony, 



33, No. 2. 

 Pirates mutUlariiis, Guer., in Sagra's Hist, de Cuba, 410 (excluding the synonymy). 



Inhabits Arizona, California, Mexico, Louisiana, Texas, Panama, 

 Para, Cuba, and West Virginia. 



This insect aifords an excellent example of the changes which a 

 species undergoes in being adjusted to the conditions which prevail in 

 each comparatively small region of its habitat. There are small differ- 

 ences in the specimens from each locality, which enable us to link 

 together the forms from these widely remote places. In general, the 

 form from Cuba contrasts strongly with that from California both in 

 color and structure. 



At Para, it acquires more distinctly the blackish obscuration of the 

 apical part of the femora; but there is a tendency to this observable in 

 some of the specimens from near San Francisco. This same blackening 

 of the femora is also seen in specimens of Sirtlienea carinata from the 

 basin of the Amazonas. 



An intimate acquaintance with these and similar insects will, no 

 doubt, add much to our knowledge of the origin and structure of the 

 regions which they affect, and may give a clew to the place of their 

 origin, and determine the reasons of their j)resent distribution. A 

 pressing need of the present time is a systematic and accurate survey 

 of our still wild territories, including the proper preservation of large 

 series of specimens from every kind of locality. This would clear away 

 many of the difiliculties which now obstruct the study of the present 

 life-areas of the great "West, and settle upon a sec'ure basis our 

 knowledge of the dependence of organisms upon the structure of the 

 country they inhabit, and the extent and nature of their reactions upon 

 the productions of that country. 



MeLANOLESTES, Stal. 



1. M. incipes. 



Pircdes picipcs, H.-Scbf., Wanz. Ins. viii, 62, fig. 831. 

 M€la)ioIcstcs jiicipes, Stal, Euumeratio Hemipt. ii, 107, No. 3 

 Eedmius imngens, LeConte, Proc. Acad. Phila. 1855, 404. 



Inhabits California, Texas, Indian Territory, and the Atlantic region 

 from Maine to Florida and Louisiana, and Para, Brazil. 



2. M. ahdominalis. 



Piraies ahdominaJis, H.-Scbf., Wanz. Ins. viii, '63, fig. 832. 



Inhabits California, Mexico, and the Atlantic region ; also, from old 

 Fort Cobb, Indian Territory, by Dr. E. Palmer. 



The evidence at present in my possession does not warrant the uniting 

 of these two species. Both are quite common in Maryland, sometimes 

 occurring under the same stone ; but while I have seen the sexes united, 

 I have never seen a male of the one caress or unite with a female of the 

 other. The width and proportions of the head and pronotum and 

 abdomen vary considerably in the specimens of both of these species, 

 so that, in the absence of a long series of them, they might be made to 

 constitute a number of species. 



Subfamily ACANTHASPIDINA. 



Meccus, Stal. 

 j\I. yhylhisomus. 



Conorlihuis phijllosomus, Bni-m., Handb. ii, 1, 246, No. 3. 

 Mcccm phiitlusoma, Sta!, Berlin. Eut. Zeit. iii, 105. 



