CIOINDELIDJE. 



221 



during their expedition in the Malay region. As the work is 

 expensive and apparently difficult to obtain we quote at length 

 the remarks on Colly ris saraivalcensis, which have a strong bearing 

 upon Mr. Shelf ord's observations : — 



" This species and the preceding (Collyris ajncalis, Chaud.), 

 which it closely resembles, were not uncommon on Bukit Besar. 

 They frequented fairly open paths where there was much 

 alternation of light and shade, and were extremely active and 

 restless in their movements, settling for a few seconds on some 

 projecting twig or leaf, and then flying off with great rapidity. 

 While on the wing they could with difficulty be distinguished 

 from the smaller wasps of the family Scoliidje, and from certain 

 Diptera (SciOMYzmiE ?), but this resemblance quite vanished 

 when the beetles were at rest. Perhaps, however, the most 

 interesting member of this mimetic association is a Heteromerous 

 beetle, originally described by A^estwood as Styrax tricondy hides, 

 and which appears to be exceedingly rare, as there is "only a 

 single specimen in the Bates collection at the British Museum. 

 The single specimen that we captured, which we did not specially 

 note at the time, was secured on Bukit Besar in the sweep-net 

 on April 20th, and, so close was its resemblance to the three 

 preceding species, that it was actually taken home to the British 

 Museum with the Cicindelids, and only recognised there on a rigid 

 examination as not belonging to this family. Both it and its 

 model have red legs and cyaneous elytra, which are strongly rugose 

 at their anterior halves, while the posterior portion is smooth and 

 shining, though, in the case of S. tricondyloides, it is slight lv 

 striated. The thorax of the mimic has two large tubercles oil 

 the disc, projecting slightly forward as a kind of hump, with the 

 result that the thorax appears to be slightly constricted anteriorlv, 

 as is the case in the species of Collyris. 



" It is not at first sight easy to understand why this section 

 of the Cicindelids should be so extensively mimicked, as thev 

 certainly are, in the Eastern tropics (of. E. Shelford, Proc. Zooh 

 Soc. 1902 (2), pp. 233-4, pi. xix, figs. 1-6). They are, of course, 

 highly raptorial insects, but I am not aware that it has ever been 

 shown that they are nauseous, while, even if this was the case, 

 they are not, at any rate, in the Malay Peninsula, sufficiently 

 abundant for any protective qualities that they may possess to 

 prove any advantage to their mimics. 



" Possiblv all cases in this group may ultimately be shown to be 

 instances of Miillerian rather than Batesian mimicry, though 

 the extreme rarity of the mimic is an argument against this 

 supposition." 



The family falls naturally into two groups, which are named by 

 Dr. Horn ALOCOSTERNALiiE and PLATYSTERNALiiE. In the former 

 of these the episterna of the metasternum are reduced to a longer 

 or shorter narrow band, which is more or less strongly sulcate, 

 while in the latter they are broad and smooth. Taking the 

 Indian fauna onlv into consideration, the former division contains 



