244 Transactions. 



6. Melampsalta cruentata Fabr. (Plate XLVI : fig. 9, £ ; fig. 10, $ ; 

 fig. 11, red variety of <$.) 



Tettigonia cruentata Fabr., Syst. Ent., 680, 10, 1775. Cicada sericea 



Walk., Cat. Horn. B.M., 169, 1850. C. rosea Walk., I.e., 220. 



C. angusta Walk., I.e., 174. C. bilinea Walk., I.e., Suppl. 34, 



1858. Melampsalta rosea Stal. Oefv. Vet. Ak. Fork., p. 484, 1862 



(quoted by Distant). M. muta Distant (part), Ann. Mag. Nat. 



Hist., vol. 9, p. 326, 1892 ; Kirby (vars. /3-S), Trans. N.Z. Inst., 



vol. 28, p. 455, 1896. M . sericea Kirby, I.e.. p. 456. M. angusta 



Distant, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. 9, p. 326, 1892 ; Goding and 



Froggatt, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., vol. 29, p. 643, 1904. Cicada 



muta Hudson (and vars. flavescens, cinerascens, rufescens), Trans. 



N.Z. Inst., vol. 23, p. 51, 1891. Cicadetta cruentata and angusta 



Kirkaldy, Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. 41, p. 28, 1909. 



<J. General colour dark red, brownish, or olivaceous, with a silvery or 



pale median stripe from frons to tip of abdomen. Mesonotum with two 



heavy black obconical patches, variable in size. Cruciform elevation 



always paler. Abdomen — segmental margins red, brownish, or olivaceous, 



remainder dark. Costa olivaceous or reddish. Tegmina and wings clear. 



Long. 14-17 mm. ; tegmen, 18-21 mm. 



$. Resembles male except in larger size and the following : General 

 colour pale greenish, olivaceous, yellowish, ochreous, or bright red. 

 Long. 18-23 mm. ; tegmen, 20-24 mm. 



Both sexes extremely variable in colour, size, and intensity of markings. 

 Pale median stripe always present, sometimes edged with darker, especially 

 on the anterior segments of abdomen. The eighth apical cell of the tegmen 

 is nearly as broad as long. 



Distribution. — Probably generally distributed throughout the country 

 at low levels. It is interesting to note that this is the only species not 

 endemic. Goding and Froggatt (" Monograph of Australian Cicadidae ") 

 record it from Adelaide and Victoria. 



This is the common cicada of the open country from November to May. 

 In contradistinction to the shrub-loving M. muta, it shows a decided prefer- 

 ence for grass, herbage, and swamp-vegetation on or near the ground. 

 The species is extremely variable ; but the continuous median stripe is 

 constant, and the note varies but little. In tone the song is intermediate 

 between the shrill, weak chirping of M. scutellaris and M. cincta and the 

 rather harsh, insistent stridulation of M. muta. Observations in the field 

 emphatically confirm Distant's opinion that the two extreme forms (angusta 

 and cruentata) are one and the same species. 



Var. subalpina. (Plate XLVI : fig. 12, <J ; fig. 13, $.) 



Cicada muta var. subalpina Hudson, Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. 23, p. 51, 

 1891. Melam/psalta muta Kirby, Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. 28, 

 p. 455, 1896. Cicadetta muta Kirkaldy, Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. 41, 

 p. 27, 1909. 

 General colour vivid green occasionally suffused with reddish. Genital 

 segment with two dark lateral lines. Cruciform elevation tinged with red or 

 yellow. The obconical spots of the mesonotum sometimes marked with 

 red. Legs sometimes green with red tarsi. Tegmina and wings suffused 

 with green (distinction from type). Veins green, costa reddish. 

 Size larger than type. Long. 18-23 mm. ; tegmen, 23-28 mm. 



