CAPSIDS, 
705 
Anthocorid^;. 
Hemelytra with an embolium and a cuneus. Ocelli present; third 
and fourth joints of antennae not twice as long as the first and 
second together. 
This family includes a small number of minute insects unlikely to 
be found by any but a collector of small Hemiptera only. Most are 
dark-coloured somewhat flattened insects resembling Capsidae, with 
moderately long legs and antennae. They are found in flowers where 
they appear to feed on pollen and Thrips. Distant enumerates ten 
species in the Fauna of India, none of which can be regarded as com¬ 
mon insects so far as our present knowledge goes. 
Triphleps tantilus, Motsch., is probably widely spread in the plains, 
a small black insect of less than one-tenth of an inch long, with some 
resemblance to Oxycarcenus. It is found on sunflower and other green 
plants during the rains. 
P OLYCTENIDiE. 
One remarkable insect, recorded and described by Waterhouse from 
Secunderabad is the sole Indian representative of the family. This is 
Polyctenes lyres, Waterh., a small insect found upon a bat on which 
presumably it is parasitic. The student will find an excellent figure in 
Distant’s Fauna of India volume. It will readily be mistaken for a 
Nycteribiid, and is so regarded by some authors ; it is elongate and 
flattened, with the head in two portions, the hemelytra much reduced, 
and the upper surface of the body with minute hairs. The three- 
jointed proboscis will distinguish it from other similar bat parasites. 
This and other bizarre forms of insect life will reward the collector 
who will systematically investigate the probably extensive fauna to 
be found on living bats. 
Capsids. 
Hemelytron with a cuneus. 
The above is the distinctive character of the family, combined with 
the absence of the embolium and of characters marking allied families. 
The species composing it are small delicate insects of dull colouring ; 
the integument is less firmly chitinized than in other Rhynchota, the head 
is distinct, with four-jointed antennae in which the basal joint is often 
JIL 45 
