INSECTS OF SAMOA 



Part II. Fasc. 5 



HEMIPTEEA— MIRIDAE AND ANTHOCORIDAE. 

 By Harry H. Knight, Ph.D., Iowa State College, Ames, Iowa. 



(With 9 Text-figures.) 



The present fascicle, dealing with the families Miridae and Anthocoridae, 

 completes the study of Samoan Hemiptera. In previous papers, by Prof. Teiso 

 Esaki (pp. 67-80) and Mr. W. E. China (pp. 81-162), there are recorded seventy 

 species of Heteroptera, representing fifty-one genera. The present paper 

 includes thirty-two Samoan species of Miridae, representing twenty genera, and 

 one species of Anthocoridae. This number, added to the previous total com- 

 piled by Mr. China, makes 103 species of Hemiptera, representing seventy-two 

 genera definitely recorded from the Samoan Islands. 



It is interesting to note that the Miridae constitute approximately one- 

 third of the total number of species, a percentage very similar to that found in 

 the Palaearctic and Nearctic faunal regions. 



It may be noticed that the writer has deviated from his usual style in 



descriptions, so that this fascicle may conform more closely with the form used by 



Mr. China in Fascicle 3. Again, it may also be of interest to future students of 



Miridae to know that the writer has not had the benefit of studying type 



material of species described from the Pacific regions, but has been forced to 



rely upon the literature for knowledge of species which might be expected in 



the Samoan Islands. Many hours have been spent in studying descriptions of 



all the species recorded from the Pacific faunas with a view to detecting any 



described forms occurring in Samoa ; and how well we have succeeded only 



future workers can determine. In the course of this study a check list of Miridae 



of the world has been compiled as a necessary basis for checking species and 



names. The writer is indebted to Mr. W. E. China for his assistance in checking 

 II. 5—1 



