Insects, ^'c. , of Surinam . 371 



ceau. [An abstract of Mr. Guildiiig's description, and copies 

 of his figures, of the Calandra palmarum, as published in 

 T/ie Transactions of the Society of Arts, have been given in 

 this Magazine, V. 466 — 469.] 



Plate 49. — The subterraneous larva and the smaller ex- 

 panded figure belong to a true Cicada, but not, I think, tlie 

 Tettigonia tibicen Fahr. 8. The larger figures well repre- 

 sent the noble Fulgora lanternaria Fabr. 1. Gmel. 2089., one 

 of the most singular of all insects, and a precious addition to 

 any cabinet. The creature at the bottom is fictitious. The 

 hollow lantern-shaped head of the Fulgora has been glued on 

 a Tettigonia, and probably sold to our good-tempered author 

 by some cunning negro. From her words, " Persuasum mihi 

 ab Indis est,*' she had evidently no better authority for pre- 

 senting us with this strange figure. The sounds of the 

 Cicada, so like those of the razor-grinder's wheel, are not 

 produced by the proboscis, but by the wonderful and com- 

 plex tympanum, which occupies half the abdomen of the 

 clamorous and impatient male. From the peculiar shrillness 

 of the confused notes drawn from the quickly agitated organ, 

 the creature is heard not only at a great distance, but is 

 superior in attracting the attention, to anything I know. > 

 Often, as the sun has been descending, and I have been per- 

 forming the solemn service of the dead, one of these creatures 

 has lighted on some neighbouring plant, and commenced his 

 evening hymn, and thus disturbed me. At other times, 

 attracted by the lights at evening service, the noisy intruder 

 will enter my parish church, and distress the preacher with 

 his rival voice. If its jarring notes cannot be said to drown 

 my powerful organ, they are certainly heard distinctly above 

 everything by the still assembly. Madame Merian gives ns 

 an account of her first discovery of the shining property of 

 the Fulgora, and tells us of the horror which seized her when 

 she opened the box to separate the quarrelling inmates, and 

 saw it filled with fire. A glass full of any of our luminous 

 insects, when in health, is, indeed, a splendid show. The 

 plant is the monstrous or double variety' of the pomegranate 

 (Punica Granatum L.\ sometimes cultivated as an ornament 

 of our gardens. 



Plate 50. Above is Passalus interruptus Fabr, ]., Zu- 

 canus G77iet, 1590., with the nympha ; and below is the noble 

 jBuprestis gigantea Fabr 4. Gmel, 1926. The two larvae, 

 from the situation in which she found them, are without 

 doubt improperly referred to these lignivorous beetles : pos- 

 sibly they belong to the AScarabae'idae. The plant is a tropical 

 tuber-bearing Convolvulus L. 



B B 2 



