692 
RHYNCHOTA. 
LXXYII), is the most abundant species, feeding upon cotton, bhinda 
and many weeds and also in large number on the seeds of the silk-cotton 
(Bombax malabaricum). It will be readily 
mistaken for other species but is distinct 
in having white bands across the body 
beneath and a white collar. Its occur¬ 
rence upon cotton and the destruction it 
causes to cotton are described elsewhere 
(Mem. Agric. Dept., India, Ent. Yol. II, 
No. 3). When the silk-cotton is in fruit, 
the bug multiplies enormously, and when 
the seed is blown down, the bug descends 
in great numbers and is found in masses 
on the ground. It is curiously gregarious, 
the vivid scarlet bugs assembling in 
bunches on their food-plant, a singularl} 7 
pretty sight. D. evanescens , Disk, is con¬ 
spicuous by the brown membrane of the 
hemelytra ; it is widely spread in India 
but not abundant and only rarely captured. 
Tingid.r.— Lace-Wing Bugs. 
The hemelytra reticulate , the pronotum usually with reticulate markings 
extending on the lateral leaf-like expansions. 
These small insects are amongst the most beautiful of the smaller 
insect, but are very little known and not generally noticed. Few have a 
length as great as one-quarter of an inch and 
all are dull-coloured and inconspicuous. The 
head is small and usually covered by the pro- 
notum, which often has lateral expansions. 
The lace-like markings extend over the whole 
upper surface, the hemelytra being thin with 
irregular thick lines forming the ornamenta¬ 
tion Tingidce , so far as known, are purely plant¬ 
feeding insects, living as a rule gregariously 
Fig. 46 U— Monanthia upon their host plants. Their eggs, as far as 
{Fro^Distant.) known, are laid in plant tissues, the nymphs 
Fig. 459— Odontofus 
NIGRIOORNIS. 
