112 THE INSECT WORLD. 



It is, as we have already said, in the work of Sybille de Merian, 

 •*' Metamorphoses des Insectes de Surinam," that one finds mentioned, 

 for the first time, the kmiinous properties of the Fulgora lanterriaria. 

 The author thus relates her observations, which were the result of 

 chance : — 



*' Some Indians having one day brought me a great number of 

 the Lantern Flies, I shut them up in a large box, not knowing then 

 that they gave light at night. Hearing a noise, I sprang out of bed 

 and had a candle brought. I very soon discovered that the noise 

 proceeded from the box, which I hurriedly opened ; but, alarmed at 

 seeing emerging from it a flame, or, to speak more correctly, as man) 

 flames as there were insects, I at first let it fall. Having recoverec 

 from my astonishment, or rather from my fright, I caught all mi 

 insects again, and admired this singular property of theirs." 



Since the time when Mile, de Merian visited Guyana, differen 

 travellers have said that they could not observe, as she did, thi 

 phosphorescent phenomenon. It is, then, probable that this pre 

 perty only exists in the male or female insect, and then only at ce: 

 tain seasons. 



What a marvellous spectacle must the rich valleys of Guyar 

 present, when, in the stillness of the night, the air is filled with liviri 

 torches; when, the Fidgorce flying about in space, the flashes of fi:' 

 cross each other, go out and blaze up again, shine brightly and th^j 

 •die out, and present, on a calm evening, the appearance of the 

 lightning flashes which are usually seen only in the midst of 

 tempest ! 



Let us now go on to another interesting insect of the order 

 which we are treating, the Aphrophora, without being frightened 

 its disagreeable name, for there are many other names we may give 

 if we choose among those by which it is popularly known. In t 

 months of June and July one sees on nearly every tree, and 

 plants of the most different kinds, a sort of white froth, composed 

 air bubbles, deposited on the leaves and branches. It is produc 

 by an insect which the peasants in France call Crachat de Coucou. 

 Ecume printaniere (spring froth), and which is called in Engla- 

 Cuckoo's spittle. De Geer carefully studied the metamorphoses 

 this insect. The Aphrophora (from ac^pbs, foam, and (^epw, I bear 

 carry) is lodged in the froth of which we have just been speaki 

 It lives in it, only leaving it when it has its wings. De Geer wonde 

 why this insect confines itself during the whole of its life in liqi ' 

 and concludes that the froth has the effect of protecting the in; 

 from the burning heat of the sun. This covering seems also to } 



