a small bee of the genus
Melipona. It is one of the most remarkable cases of mimicry, since the
beetle has the thorax and body densely hairy like the bee, and the legs
are tufted in a manner most unusual in the order Coleoptera. Another
Longicorn, Odontocera odyneroides, has the abdomen banded with yellow,
and constricted at the base, and is altogether so exactly like a small
common wasp of the genus Odynerus, that Mr. Bates informs us he was
afraid to take it out of his net with his fingers for fear of being
stung. Had Mr. Bates's taste for insects been less omnivorous than it
was, the beetle's disguise might have saved it from his pin, as it had
no doubt often done from the beak of hungry birds. A larger insect,
Sphecomorpha chalybea, is exactly like one of the large metallic blue
wasps, and like them has the abdomen connected with the thorax by a
pedicel, rendering the deception most complete and striking. Many
Eastern species of Longicorns of the genus Oberea, when on the wing
exactly resemble Tenthredinidae, and many of the small species of
Hesthesis run about on timber, and cannot be distinguished from ants.
There is one genus of South American Longicorns that appears to mimic
the shielded bugs of the genus Scutellera. The Gymnocerous capucinus is
one of these, and is very like Pachyotris fabricii, one of the
Scutelleridae. The beautiful Gymnocerous dulcissimus is also very like
the same group of insects, though there is no known species that exactly
corresponds to it; but this is not to be wondered at, as the tropical
Hemiptera have been comparatively so little cared for by collectors.

_Insects mimicking Species of other Orders._

The most remarkable case of an insect of another order mimicking a
beetle is that of the Condylodera tricondyloides, one of the cricket
family from the Philippine Islands, which is so exactly like a
Tricondyla (one of the tiger beetles), that such an experienced
entomologist as Professor Westwood placed it among them in his cabinet,
and retained it there a long time before he discovered his mistake! Both
insects run along the trunks of trees, and whereas Tricondylas are very
plentiful, the insect that mimics it is, as in all other cases, very
rare. Mr. Bates also informs us that he found at Santarem on the Amazon,
a species of locust which mimicked one of the tiger beetles of the genus
Odontocheila, and was found on the same trees which they frequented.

There are a considerable n