BUGS. 243 



bands on the wing-covers, some of which spots widen out, or run together so as to 

 make these organs almost uniform red, or they become reduced so as to leave the 

 surface almost plain black. At least four of these can safely be placed as mere color 

 varieties of T. sanguinolenta, from which they should not have been separated. 

 South America is rich in beautiful species of this group, and Africa and the East 

 Indies have superb forms of still other genera ; but our space forbids further notice, 

 however interesting these might be. 



Turning to another sub-family, the Aphrophorida, we meet with smaller insects, 

 often of much narrower form, with the vertex nearly as large as the prothorax, and the 

 latter curved on the front margin, and either notched or concave behind. The eyes 

 are commonly deep-seated, longer than wide, and placed obliquely. The scutellum is 

 acuminate ; and the legs are stout, short, armed with two thick spurs on the outside 

 of the hind shanks, while on the tips of the latter and on the edges of the tarsal joints 

 there are close-set, small teeth. 



Here are placed the froth-bearing hoppers, Aphrophora, Lepyronia, Ptyelus, and 

 their numerous allies. They compose a host of mostly brown, clay-yellow, or grayish 

 species, of medium or small size, inhabiting all but the coldest climates of the earth, 

 and being generally present wherever pine or willow is found to flourish. Aphrophora 

 is represented in the United States by A. pa/rallda^ a brown insect marbled with 

 still darker brown, with a pale streak along the middle of the head and running back 

 upon the prothorax. There is an oblique, broken, short, white band upon each wing- 

 cover, and two short streaks of white placed a little further back. It measures from 

 one-third to one-half an inch to the tip of closed wing-covers. Its general color 

 matches well the bark of pine trees, upon the branches of which, especially of the 

 white pine, it may be found from June until late in autumn. In May and June 

 the larvoB live covered by masses of white froth which the insect produces by expelling 

 from their beaks the juices drawn out of the tree. These little accumulations of 

 bubbly fluid may often be seen in the midst of a bunch of the pine needles, where the 

 insect has resorted for its sustenance. 



It is replaced on the west of the Rocky Mountains by a similar species of equally 

 large size, the A. permutata, which inhabits the pine regions from Vancouver's Island 

 to near San Francisco. 



The A. quadrangular is is a smaller species, belonging to the eastern half of the 

 United States. It is of a grayish color, crossed on each wing-cover by a triangular 

 black line, behind which, at tip, a small streak and spot of the same color appear. It 

 also lives, enclosed by a mass of froth, on various plants and shrubs. Occasionally 

 a little mass of this fluid may be seen sticking to the stalk or leaf of grass in the fields 

 or upon blackberry twigs near the fence corners. A notion prevails among the 

 negroes of the southwestern counties of Maryland that the smaller horseflies of the 

 forests are produced from these little accumulations of froth which they notice 

 attached to bushes in the vicinity. 



Lepyronia sordida is marked like the preceding, but may be recognized by the 

 much stouter head and body, and by being much more hairy. It inhabits the northern 

 and western States, and extends far south into Tamaulipas, Mexico. 



Ptyelus is a smaller, parallel, grayish, or .clay-yellow form. Various species inhabit 

 the northern parts of this continent, some of which occur also in Europe. The 

 P. lineatus abounds on the grasses and low plants of prairies and meadows, especially 

 in damp situations. This species may be recognized by the narrow brown, double 



