BY F. W. GODING. 11 



petiolate; basal half of costal, radial cells and clavus punctured 

 and opaque. 



Femora frequently black, tibiae and tarsi tawny. Chest fre- 

 ([uently piceous. 



Long. 6 to 8; lat. (inch lat. corn.) 3 to 4 mm. 



Types in Coll. Fairmaire, and in British Museum. 



Food plant, Acacia decurrens. 



Hah. — New Holland (Fairmaire); Tarago, Clarence R., Gosford, 

 Loftus, Wollongong, Bungendqre, Homebush, N.S.W. (Lea) ; 

 Maitland, Sydney, Penrith, Kempsey, Uralla, N.S.W. (Froggatt); 

 Newcastle, N.S.W. (Hays): Brisbane (Tryon) ; Townsville, Q- 

 (Dodd) : Victoria (Stowell) ; Gisborne, Vic. (French) : South 

 .'\ustralia (Tepper) : Pine R., Geraldton, West Australia (Lea). 



This species is the most common membracid in Australia and 

 the most widely distributed. Among those examined are the 

 form suffma, Walk., with the foreparts dusky, others with the 

 head and chest black, and others variously marked with brown; 

 the venation of the tegmina is very variable, there being a strong 

 tendency to the presence of small venules. 



Mr. Froggatt, in a most interesting article entitled " Insects of 

 the Wattle Trees," which appeared in the ' Agricultural Gazette' 

 for July, publishes the only account which has appeared on the 

 habits of any of the Australian Membracida^,. He says, " This 

 (virescens) is one of the commonest insects upon the young 

 v/attles, where they are much sought after by several species of 

 ants that come to obtain the sugary secretions, popularly known 

 as " honey dew," that they discharge from the abdominal glands. 

 The female slits the bark with her ovipositor and lays the eggs in 

 rows, the young larvse and pupae, as well as the perfect insects, 

 being found clustering along the branchlets, but as soon as dis- 

 turbed they crawl round the twig away from their enemies, and 

 when touched they spring from the hind legs and jump for 

 a considerable distance." The above graphic account is practically 

 true of most of the Memhracidw., but some of the species of 

 Tragopa^ at least, live in the ground in the nests of ants. 



