Article beginning on page 327.
Psyche 9:327, 1900.

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PSYCHE.
AN INTERESTING CASE OF MIMICRY.
BY HERBERT OSRORN, COLUMBUS, OHIO.
Some time ago I received from Mr. C.
W. Mally, Assistant Entomologist, Cape
Town, S, Africa, some specimens of a
species of Homopteron which exhibits
in a quite remarkable manner the adop-
tion of a form and appearance which
must serve it as a most efficient protec- tion.
The insect itself Cephalelus infttmatus
is a little over half an inch long, of a brown color, and has a remarkably pro-
longed head which anteriorly tapers into a very large spine. This prolonged head
is almost one half the total length of the insect. The body is slender and the
wings terminate posteriorly somewhat
abruptly but in such a manner that they
fit very perfectly upon the stem of the
plant which is its ordinary food.
The protective feature comes in from
the fact that the aborted leaf sheaths on the stem of the plant form sharp spines
occurring at intervals along the length of the stem and these are perfectly repro-
duced in. the form and color of the insect. So close is the resemblance that when a
number of the spines are mounted scpa-
rately along side of the insects it is very difficult to distinguish them without the most careful scrutiny. When the speci-
mens were first received I had looked
them over some time before noticing that a number were not insects at all but
simply spurs and had there not been one
mounted with a fragment of stem along
with an insect beside it I might have
taken a much longer time to make the
discovery. I have shown the set to a
number of individuals who have taken
quite a little time to make the same
discovery.
This species was described many
years ago by Percheron (Guerin. Mag. de
2001.11. IX. PI. 48) and has been figured by Burmeister (Genera Inseclorum PI. 4.) and is mentioned in later works on Afri- can insects, but so far as I have been
able to find there is no mention made of its foodplant or of the remarkable mimi- cry it presents. If collected without
attention to the foodplant or noticing the peculiar spines which it resembles there would be no suspicion that such mimicry
occurs.
According to Mr. Mally the insect
lives on the rush, Dovea teciorum Masters, the spines of which are mimicked. I
rn-ay medon that the stems are green
while the aborted sheaths are dark
brown.




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