March, 1916] Ilomopteroiis Studies. Part I 167 



matter is of minor importance. As with the locusts, the 

 birds must necessarily constitute some check on the increase 

 of the fauna. The writer recalls the swallows feeding exten- 

 sively on Jassids in the district of Albany. Another interesting 

 fact is recalled, and that is the habit of the common "Butcher 

 Bird," which catches and impales various insects, such as 

 Grasshoppers, Cicadas, Fulgorids and Jassids, on barbed wire 

 fences and on thorns of trees such as the "Mimosa." Distant 

 records that "birds are dangerous to Cicadan life," and further 

 reports having seen a Cicada, Platypleura diversa Germ, eaten 

 by spiders. Ross records the eating of Quintilia carinata Stal 

 by a mantis {Miomantis fenestra Fab.). Near Rustenberg 

 he observed CaUipsaltria longula Stal being attacked by a 

 Cicindelid beetle. Bell-Marley writes of an interesting inter- 

 relationship existing between a Membracid Oxyrhachis tarandus 

 Fabr. and certain small red ants; the cause of the association 

 being the secretion of honey dew by the Membracids. 



The protective resemblances borne to plants and flowers 

 by many African Homoptera, constitute an interesting associa- 

 tion and are worthy of mention here. Cephaleliis infiimatiis 

 is perhaps the best and most striking example, and the case of 

 mimicry is mentioned under that insect later. Distant records 

 a resemblance to twigs and branches by a Cicada, Platypleura 

 haglundi Stal, and Ross attributed the difficulty in collecting 

 Platypleura marshalli Dis. to its resemblance in color to the 

 "mopami" tree. Hinde has drawn attention to the resem- 

 blances borne by Plata nigrocincta Walk, to flowers of a plant 

 in East Africa. 



While many interesting ecological facts await the investiga- 

 tor, it seems to the writer that none too much stress can be 

 laid on the importance of such study. The various predaceous 

 and parasitic insects must necessarily be studied before we can 

 obtain any definite information on the ecological relationships. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 



Amyot & Serville. Histoire naturelle des Insectes Hemipteres. (1843). 



Atkins. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng. LIV. (1885). 



Bell-Marley. Zoologist. 4. XVII. (1913). 



Blanchard. Histoire Naturelle des Insectes. (1840). 



Bennett, E. T. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. (1833). 



Boheman. Kongl. Vetenskaps-Akademiens Handlingar. (1838). 



Buckton. Monogr. of the Membracida;. (1901-1903). 



Burmeister. Handb. Ent. ii. (1835). id. Genera Insectorum (1838-1846). 



Butler. Cist. Entom. 1. (1874). 



