A BUBBLE-BLOWING INSECT. 



2 5 



the early summer. These flecks of froth may be found very com- 

 monly at the junction of the leaf with the stem. Immersed in this 

 froth is found a little green insect, sometimes two or three of them, 

 concealed by the same moist covering. This little 

 creature represents the early stage of an insect 

 which in its full growth still lives upon grass, and 

 is easily recognized by its triangular shape and its 

 ability of jumping like a grasshopper. There are 

 a number of species; the one living on grass ap- 

 parently confines itself to the grass alone, though 

 I have seen one species that frequents a number 

 of different plants. A species found on the white 

 pine is dark brown in color, and the froth in which 

 it is found not only hangs pendent from the 

 branch, but the lower portion appears as a large 

 drop of clear water. 



Let one provide himself with a good hand lens, 

 a bit of glass (a watch crystal is especially suit- 

 able for this purpose), and a common camel's- 

 hair brush, and he is ready to make a preliminary 

 study of Aphrophora. The brush is convenient 

 for easily removing the insect from the froth 

 which invests it. If the insect is cleared from the 

 mass of froth, it will crawl quite rapidly along the 

 stem of the plant, stopping at times to pierce the 

 stem for the purpose of sucking the juices within, 

 and finally settling down in earnest, evidently ex- 

 erting some force in thrusting its piercing appa- 

 ratus through the outer layers, as shown by the 

 firm way in which it clutches the stem with its 

 legs. After sucking for some time, a clear fluid is 

 seen to slowly exude from the posterior end of the 

 abdomen, flowing over the body first and gradually filling up the 

 spaces between the legs and the lower part of the body and the stem 

 upon which it rests (Fig. 2). During all this time not a trace of an 

 air bubble appears; simply a clear, slightly viscid fluid is exuded, 

 and this is the only matter that escapes from the insect. In other 

 words, its secretion of clear fluid is precisely like that of the Mada- 

 gascar species referred to by Westwood and others. 



This state of partial immersion continues for half an hour or 

 more. During this time, and even when the insect is roaming up 

 and down the grass or twig, the posterior segments of the abdomen 

 are extended at intervals, the abdomen turning upward at the 

 same time. It is a kind of reaching-up movement, but whether 



Fig. 1. — Grass stalk 

 and leaves, show- 

 ing appearance of 

 froth. 



