58 
THE PAN-PACIFIC ENTOMOLOGIST 
Fig. 1. Female Hadronema uhleri feeding on a Lytta crotchi at Gavilan Hills, Riverside Co., 
CA. (Photo by G. R. Ballmer). 
mouthparts into a membranous area of the beetle’s body. Areas com¬ 
monly probed included the membrane between the tarsal claws, 
between the various leg segments, between the coxae and venter, 
and between the abdominal terga and sterna. Beetles normally be¬ 
came irritated immediately or within 10 sec. of being bitten. They 
reacted by kicking, scraping with the legs, and/or decamping. The 
Hadronema usually responded by quickly retreating. Occasionally 
mirids appeared to have difficulty extricating their mouthparts quick¬ 
ly enough and remained attached to the beetle for a short time after 
this negative behavior began. Reflex bleeding, a common response of 
meloids to external irritation, was never associated with mirid at¬ 
tacks. Most of the mirids remained on the plant during their attempts 
to feed. However, a few bugs climbed directly on the beetle’s dorsum. 
The Hadronema were most commonly associated with mated indi¬ 
viduals. Mated pairs reacted less vigorously to mirid attacks than did 
solitary individuals. The latter commonly walked or flew from attack 
sites, although this movement could not definitely be attributed to 
the mirids. When a meloid moved, the remaining mirids became agi¬ 
tated. If the beetle moved to a nearby site on the same plant, most of 
the Hadronema followed either by walking or flying. If the beetle left 
the plant entirely, the mirids also quickly dispersed and were soon 
lost from sight. 
Feeding behavior was also elicited when a drop of Lytta mioerens 
