238 Transactions. 



Art. XXVII. — A Revision of the New Zealand Cicadidae (Homoptera), 



with Descriptions of New Species. 



By John G. Myers, F.E.S. 



[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 1st June, 1920 ; received by Editor, 

 18th August, 1920 ; issued separately, 20th July, 1921.] 



Plates XLV, XL VI. 



In 1908 Kirkaldy pointed out the urgent need for a revision of the New 

 Zealand species of Melampsalta. This paper is an attempt to supply the 

 want. 



I must first acknowledge a deep debt of gratitude to Mr. G. V. Hudson. 

 Without his encouragement the paper would not have been commenced ; 

 without his assistance it would not have been completed. He has also 

 honoured me by furnishing the plates, which form a most valuable portion 

 of the paper. My thanks are due also to Professor H. B. Kirk, who 

 kindly read the text. 



In the difficult work of establishing the synonymy much valuable help 

 was received from manuscript notes of Mr. Howard Ashton, of Sydney, to 

 whom Mr. Hudson sent a collection of Cicadidae in 1907. In some few 

 instances my own researches have led me to conclusions at variance with 

 those of Mr. Ashton, particularly with regard to the much-disputed synonymy 

 of the multifarious forms of M . cruentata Fabr. 



In field-work and collecting, Mr. T. C. Cockcroft's keen assistance has 

 been invaluable. 



In the order Hemiptera, or Rhynchota, the suborder Homoptera con- 

 tains two very distinct divisions, based on the position of the rostrum. 

 Of these, the Auchenorryncha comprise the cicadas and leaf-hoppers, while 

 the Sternorrhyncha include the springing plant-lice, the true plant-lice (oi 

 aphides), and the scale insects. 



The Auchenorrhynchous Homoptera form a much-neglected group, of 

 which the importance, both economic and biological, is, however, extremely 

 great. As the suctorial mouth-parts of these insects inflict only very 

 minute wounds on plants, the damage they do to crops is apt to be largely 

 underestimated. That .their study is not only of purely scientific interest 

 is demonstrated by the fact that, according to Osborn, at least one-fourth 

 of all the grass in North America is annually destroyed by leaf-hoppers. 



To show the affinities of the Cicadidae it will be necessary to indicate 

 briefly the classification of the Auchenorrhyncba. Under the system pro- 

 posed by Kirkaldy the group is divided into two main " superfamilies " — 

 the Cicadoidea, containing the families Cicadidae, Jassidae, Membracidae, 

 and Cercopidae (the frog-hoppers or cuckoo-spit insects so common in 

 Europe, and occurring also in New Zealand) ; and the Fulgoroidea, con- 

 taining the famous lantern-flies, of which the luminosity is now generally 

 doubted if not absolutely disproved, and a multitude of smaller, often very 



