March 2, I88J.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



687 



The order is divided into two sub-orders, Hemiptera- 

 Heteroptera and Hemiptera-Homoptera , and these again are 

 separated iuto divisions ami subdivisions, the latter being 

 distributed into families which contain the various genera 

 and species. In the first sub-order (Hemiptera-Heteropterd) 

 there are two divisions, viz., Gymnocerata, and Ciyptocerata, 

 and the families comprised under these heads are 60 in 

 number, the following being the generally accepted order 

 in which they are arranged, viz. : Parhycoridre (in this 

 family the scuttellum is so enlarged as to cover the whole 

 of the upperside of the abdomen, both pairs of wings 

 being concealed beneath it when not in flight; in one 

 genus at least the species might be mistaken for some of 

 the Buprestidce in Coleoptera, which they resemble in form 

 and brilliance of colour),* * * PkXtxdice (this last contains 

 but one genus, the species of which are most peculiar in 

 appearance, as they resemble small, thin pieces of bark 

 joined together), * * * Nahida' (the species comprised in 

 the last 12 families are predaceous in their habits, and the 

 larva of one species, Redn rins personalis, is known to prey 

 upon the common house bug, Aeantkia lectvlaria; some two 

 or three of the species in South America are also known 

 to live with spiders), * * * and Notonectidcr (the species per- 

 taining to the last eight families, except the Galgulidoe, 

 live either in or on the water, and the genus Belostoma 

 contains the largest insect of the order, Belostoma orOMCkS, 

 which measures 3.7 inches in legth by nearly H in breadth). 

 In the second sub-order (Hemiptera-Homoptera,) there are 

 three grand divisions, viz., Cicadina, Phytopnthires, and 

 Anoplvra. The first embraces the families Stridvlantida, 

 Fulgoridce, Tettigometridee, Membracidat, and Cicadidos ; and 

 in these families are to be found perhaps some of the 

 most curious and wonderful forms of insect life. The well 

 known lantern-fly (Fvlgora laternaria, L.) belongs here, and 

 the whole of the stridulating or singing group is also in- 

 cluded. The Phytopihires, or second division, contains three 

 families, viz., Psyuidoe, Aphididte, and Coccidos. None of 

 the insects composing this group are of large size, and 

 many of them are only about one line in length. The first 

 family affects trees and plants, in many instances distorting 

 the leaves and buds; one of its species, Rhinocola speciosa, 

 has been recorded by Lichtenstein in the annals of the 

 French Entomological Society for 1872 as puncturing poplar 

 leaves which afterwards attain the size and form of a 

 cucumber. The PsyllidtB differ from the second family in 

 having the power to leap, their third pair of legs being 

 formed for this purpose. The Aphidida are perhaps best 

 known by the terms "blight," "green fly," &c. These are 

 to be fouud almost always in large companies on nearly 

 every kind of tree, plant and shrub. They are said to 

 produce the honey dew found upou maple and other trees, 

 although this has been disputed by Dr Hooker in the 

 Gardener*' Chronicle for July 1873. They are furnished 

 with two setiform pipes or tubes, varying considerably 

 in length in the different species, placed one on each 

 side of the abodmen on the fourth segment from the apex, 

 from which certainly is emitted a sweet fluid which the 

 ants are well known to follow them for and consume. 

 This family also contains the great vine-pest known by 

 the name of Phylloxera vastatrix. The third family, 

 Coccidce, has amongst its members the well-known cochineal 

 insect (Coccus Cacti), from the female of which when 

 gathered and killed is obtained the drug or dye used in 

 giving the red colours, scarlet aud crimson. It is also 

 used for making carmine. The last division to be dealt 

 with is called the Anoplvra, and contains the most de- 

 graded forms of the whole order, viz., the lice, the fullest 

 information concerning which may be obtained by con- 

 sulting the works of Nitzch, Kurmeister, Leach, and 

 Denny. 



Although the Hemiptera are of very ancient date, remains 

 of some of the fossil forms having been found in the Primary 

 and other formations, the number of these is but few; they 

 are enumerated in a paper on "Fossil Entomology" by 

 Mr H. Goss in vol. xv. of the Entomologist's Monthly 

 Magazine. 



The whole of the group is extremely widely distributed, 

 being found in almost every portion of the globe; and they 

 are very varied both in form and in their modes of ]if> , — 

 man, animals, birds, insects, and plants being subjected to 

 their attacks. On the Continent they have for a long period 

 engaged the attention of naturalists, but in England little 



was known of the actual number inhabiting these islands 

 until Douglas aud Scott in 1865 published their volume of 

 British Hemiptera-Heteroptera. In 1859 Dr A. Dohrn 

 published what may be considered to be the first whole- 

 world catalogue of the order; and, taking it as a basis, for 

 there is no other approximate list, and adding a reasonable 

 amount of new species collected in each year since that 

 time, their number wotdd amount to nearly 10.500 species, 

 5,300 belonging to the heteropterous section aud the 

 remainder to the second sub-order. Out of these Europe 

 lays claim to at least 3000, whilst. Great Britain is known 

 to possess not fewer than 1000. There is no record of any 

 one of the species being cosmopolitan (except perhaps the 

 house bug, Acanthia lectvlaria), although some of the species 

 inhabiting England are also to be met with in China and 

 Japan. — (j. so.) — Encyclopa-dia Britannica. 



HOW TEA SOMETIMES GIVES HIGH 



DIVIDENDS. 



High dividend paying Companies may have been formed, 

 Phieuix-like, out of the ashes of former Companies, upon new 

 capital, altogether out of proportion to the actual cost 

 of the properties ? Yet such is the fact as regards more 

 than one of the best paying concerns, Wheu the crash 

 came in 1869 gardens which had had E14 to 15,00,000 

 spent upon them sold for 1140,000 for 1,400 acres in area. 

 What garden could be made at a cost, as here seen, 

 of a little over R2S§ per acre ! Then again, I was once 

 told of a garden which had cost a large sum to make, 

 being sold for R 5,000 ; yet in the first year after the 

 sale, its seed alone was sold for R 30,000 to the Assam 

 Company, who had also to clear the jungle from the tea 

 and cart away the seed. Again another instance : I once 

 heard of a garden whose teas now fetch excellent prices 

 here, which garden I w^s told cost to the original pro- 

 prietors K30,00,000, and was sold in the crash fcr 

 R15.000. These figures I lately discovered in a noe- 

 book many years old, and they called to mind the. well- 

 informed planter who gave them to me on board of a 

 river steamer. I cannot vouch for their absolute correct- 

 ness, but there were many instances in those days show- 

 ing terribly wide margins between cost-price and the 

 sale-price obtained during the panic ; aud yet it is upon 

 these ridiculously low capitals (with perhaps additions for 

 working expenses and extensions, from time to time), 

 that large dividends are for the most part now declared. 

 If proprietors after this get rid of their unjust com- 

 parisons in estimating the worth of their managers, my 

 object will have been served, and triflirig inaccuracies in 

 the above figures, should there be any, should not atfect 

 the real issue of the question, viz., that Companies pay- 

 ing big dividends today are, as a rule, Companies with 

 capitals far below the first cost of the properties. I re- 

 member yet another case where the then manager purchased 

 the estate from the Company owning it, at the time of the 

 panic, and he realised more by the sale of the Tea-lead 

 he found stored in the godowns, than the total sum he 

 had paid the proprietory Company for the whole property ! 

 Doubtless. that garden paysagood dividend, even in these 

 days. — Peripatetic Planter. — Indian Planters' Gazette. 



SHORT WEIGHTS IN COCOA. 



At the usual auctions on Tuesday last, 17th December, 

 Mr. Albert Lehmkiihl, cocoa broker, took the opportunity 

 of calling the attention of the trade to the numerous in- 

 stances of deficiencies in the weights of cocoa which had 

 come under his notice this year. He did so for the purpose 

 of finding out whether means could not be adopted for 

 remedying the evil, and also wished to know if his friends, 

 the manufacturers for whom he buys, were in any worse 

 position in the matter than their neighbours. Mr. Lehmkiihl, 

 in his remarks, alluded chiefly to Trinidad and Greuada 

 as being the descriptions of cocoa showing the greatest 

 discrepancies between the landing and the actual delivery 

 weights; and afrer making careful inquiries in various 

 quarters, he had come to the conclusion that if the short- 

 ness of weight did not occur in a natural way — that is, 

 by the cocoa becoming drier while it was stored in the 

 bonded warehouse — the increased lightness of the bags by 



