230 NATURAL HISTORY OF ARTHROPODS. 



of wings arc reticulated with black, and a large iris spot, of an olive color, encircled 

 by dark brown, with t\vo dark pupils invested with bluish and Avhite, occupies the end 

 lobe of the hind-wings. The upper and lower sides of the abdomen, more especially 

 at tip, are coated with white, flocculent matter, and the fore-wings are sprinkled with 

 a white powder. 



Next to this is placed the genus Phrictus, also composed of large species inhabiting 

 the same regions, one of which, the superb P. diadema, has the end of the serrated 

 head-protuberance tipped with a star-shaped diadem, while in front of the eyes is a 

 conspicuous blackish stripe, and above them a prominent black, oblique horn. 



To China and the East Indies belong the remarkable Candle-flies, which have also 

 been reputed to give light. They are either greenish or orange yellow, with banded 

 wing-covers, a long, tapering, upcurved head-projection, and with many-veined wings, 

 decorated on the end by a broad, black band. These belong to the recent genus 

 Fnlgora, the common form being the F. candelaria of authors. They are said to be 

 common pets of the Chinese children, who confine them in little wooden cages and 

 offer them for sale in the markets. It is shown in Fig. 8 of our plate. 



To the same sub-family are also referred the highly colored and beautifully 

 decorated ,ystms. The Lystra lanata is less showy than some of the others, but it 

 secretes long strings of white fibrous material, which project from the end of the 

 abdomen like strips of silver tape, and which are said to be useful to the insect, as it 

 flies, in saving its life from the birds. The latter, in swooping to grasp the bug, naturally 

 attempt to reach the most visible part of its body, and this, being the bundle of fibres 

 projecting far behind, is seized and bitten off, while the creature passes on unhurt. 



Multitudes of species of these insects inhabit the warm regions of Asia, Africa, and 

 America. In the United States three species inhabit the South and Southwest, and one, 

 the Pceocera misella, extends from Mexico over into the Territory of Arizona. The 

 Pteocera fuliginosa, the largest of our native species, is in general of a dark brown 

 color, about two-thirds of an inch in length, with a wide head cut almost square off 

 in front, and inhabits Texas, Missouri, and Georgia. They live in bushy places near 

 water, where the soil, being rich and damp supports a rank vegetation. 



The Dictyopharida are represented in the United States by Nersia, Scolops, and 

 Phylloscelis. To the first mentioned are referred various pea-green species with clear, 

 narrow wing-covers, and tapering, upcurved heads. They measure about half an inch 

 to the tip of the wing-covers, and these organs are very straight-veined, but closely 

 areolated on the thin end. 



The form most common in this country is a neat little insect which lives in summer 

 upon the stalks and leaves of reeds and rushes in the open swamps, both salt and fresh,, 

 extending at intervals near the coast from New Jersey to Mexico. When approached, 

 it dodges nimbly behind the stem of the plant, the green color of which it closely 

 matches, and usually remains well concealed; but if hard pressed, it flies off a few 

 feet and lodges, perhaps, on the under side of a leaf, or glides into the axil of some 

 convenient grass. When late summer arrives, and the reeds become blanched by the 

 heat, the remaining individuals of this species also lose their color, and acquire that 

 of the dried stems on which they live. 



Scolops suldpes is another singular and widely distributed member of this group. 

 It lives on grass and various plants growing on dam]) spots near the edges of woods 

 in Maryland, but farther west it frequents low spots in the prairies. It is an oval, 

 dull straw-colored insect, about one-third of an inch in total length, Avith a long, 



