HEM1PTERA. 15 1 



ground, but in the North it requires seventeen years for a 

 nymph to reach maturity. 



More than twenty distinct broods of this species have 

 been traced out. In many localities several broods coexist ; 

 this explains the fact that in such places these insects ap- 

 pear several times during a single period of seventeen years. 



There is a common species of Cicada known as the Dog- 

 day Harvest-fly or Lyreman, Cicada tibicen (Ci-ca'da ti-bi'cen), 

 which requires only two years for its development, and as 

 there are two broods of this species the adults appear every 

 year. This Cicada (Fig. 184) is black and green in color, 

 and more or less powdered beneath. And its song is tlie 

 high, sharp trill that comes to us, midsummer noons, from 

 the depths of trees where the singer is hidden amid the 

 foliage, all unconscious that its shrill note has for centuries 

 been a theme for poets. 



Family FULGORID.E (Ful-gor'i-dae). 

 The Lantern-fly Family. 



This family is remarkable for certain exotic forms which 

 it contains. Chief among these is the great Lantern-fly of 

 Brazil, which is figured in many popular works on insects. 

 Scarcely less strange are the Candle-flies of China and the 

 East Indies. The popular names of these insects refer to 

 the fact that they are phosphorescent, but we know of no 

 native species that possesses this peculiarity. There does 

 not seem to be any typical form of the body characteristic 

 of this family. The different genera differ so greatly, that 

 on superficial examination they appear to have very little in 

 common. Some even resemble butterflies and moths, while 

 others might easily be mistaken for neuropterous genera. 



The most useful character for recognizing these insects is 

 the form and position of the antennae. These are bristle- 

 shaped, and inserted in a button-shaped base on the side of 



