408 AN INTRODCUTION TO ENTOMOLOGY 



pltimp proportions. Among these are Penthima americdna, which is 

 a plump, short -bodied insect, resembhng a Clastoptera; and the genus 

 Gypona includes a large ntmiber of species, some of which resemble 

 very closely certain species of Aphrophora. A glance at the posterior 

 tibiae of these leaf-hoppers will enable one to distinguish them from 

 the cercopids, which they so closely resemble. 



Methods of combating leaf-hoppers. — Leaf-hoppers, being sucking 

 insects, are fought with contact insecticides. But it is difficult to 

 destroy the adults, for they are so well-protected by their wings that 

 applications strong enough to kill them are liable to injure the foliage 

 of the host-plant; and, too, they are very active and fly away when 

 approached. The most effective remedial measures are those directed 

 against the nymphs. These consist of the use of some spray, as a ten- 

 per-cent. kerosene emulsion or a soap solution made by dissolving one 

 pound of soap in six or eight gallons of water, or a solution made of 

 one ounce of "black leaf 40" tobacco extract and six gallons of water 

 in which has been dissolved a piece of soap the size of a hen's egg. 

 The application should be so applied as to wet the lower surface of 

 every leaf. 



Family FULGORID.E 



The Lantern-Fly Family 



This family is remarkable for certain exotic forms which it includes. 

 Chief among these is the great lantern-fly of Brazil, Laterndria phos- 

 phorea. This is the largest species of the family and is one of the 

 most striking in appearance of all insects (Fig. 477). It has immense 

 wings, which expand nearly six inches; upon each hind wing there is 



Fig. 477. — The lantern-fly, Laternaria phosphorea. 



a large eye-like spot. But the character that makes this insect es- 

 pecially prominent is the form of the head. This has a great bladder- 

 like prolongation extending forward, which has been aptly compared 

 to the pod of a peanut. Maria Sibylla Merian, a careful observer, 

 who wrote more than two hundred years ago (1705), stated that this 

 prolongation of the head is luminescent. This statement was ac- 

 cepted by Linnaeus without question ; and he made use of names for 

 this and some allied species, such as laternaria, phosphorea, candelar- 

 ia, etc., to illustrate the supposed light-producing powers of these 

 insects. The common name lantern-fly is based on the same belief. 



