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Show 268 MR. R. SHELFORD OX MIMETIC INSECTS AXD [Nov. 4, and the Hispid Gonophora wallacei are much alike in their general appearance; and so too are the Lycids Cautires excellens and Metriorrhynchus acutangulus, the Elaters Agonischius pecto-rcilis and A. (?) sanguineipennis, the Longicorns Xyaste furnosa and X . invida, and a Reduviid bug. The association of these species in one convergent group is represented in a diagrammatic way in Table V. (p. 269): the species other than Lycidse which I consider to be distasteful are indicated by an asterisk, but it is not improbable that others may hereafter be proved to be Mullerian rather than Batesian mimics. [The prevalent types of Lycid coloration are very simple, being uniform red or ochreous or one of these colours combined with black. The same patterns have an immense range corresponding with the wide distribution of the family over the warmer parts of the world. Hence this beautiful group of Bornean insects of many orders which adopt a colouring characteristic of the Lycid * could no doubt be paralleled in many countries. Examples of Lycoid American moths belonging to distasteful groups are given in Journ. Linn. Soc. (Zool.) vol. xxvi. p. 569. Mr. G. A. K. Marshall has sent me a wonderful group belonging to this type, the ground-colour being ochreous, from Salisbury, Rhodesia. The central type is provided by seven species of Lycidfe, and it is resembled by a Telephorid, a Melyrid, two Phytophaga, three Cantliaridae, three Longicorns, many species of Hymenoptera Aculeata, several Hemiptera, a fly (Xiphocerus), a Zvgfenid moth, and an Arctiid Moth. This group is briefly mentioned in the Report of the British Association (Section D), Bradford Meeting, 1900, p. 793.- E. B. P.] A second group may be formed out of Coccinellid-like insects. All the well-known Coccinellida? with red or yellow elytra spotted with black are the central figures of the group, with perhaps an excessively common Cassid, Prioptera octopunctata; mimicking these are a Longicorn, Entelopes glauca (Pasc,), two species of Lema and a Curculio, the remarkable new Locustid of a genus near Gammarotettix, a Pentatomid bug of the subfam. Asopince, Biachia ducalis (Wlk.), and a spider with large red abdomen spotted with black. The association is indicated diagrammati-eally in Table VI. (p. 270); the mimics of Coccinellidse, which are believed to be Mullerian, are indicated by asterisks. Nearly the whole of the species here mentioned are figured on Plate X X III. figs. 30 to 36. The Lema figured (L. quadripunctata) is a less perfect mimic than L. femorata. The little Dammar-bee Melipona vidua (Lep.), black with white-tipped wings, is an extremely common insect in Borneo, and, though stingless, is protected by its ferocious biting and social habits1. 1 A certain tree in the jungle near the Sarawak Museum was known to harbour a nest of this species; when the bees swarmed it was impossible to approach the tree without attracting a large number which settled on one's hair and face and bit so fiercely that a hasty retreat had to be made. A tame monkey, secured by a chain and sliding ring to a bamboo pole which contained a nest of another species of Melipona, refused after two attempts to scale the pole when the bees were swarming round the mouth of the nest. |