﻿SYSTEMATIC POSmON AND CLASSIFICATION OF 

 LEAF-HOPPERS. 



(a) SURVEY OF PREVIOUS SYSTEMS. 



"Leaf-hopper" is a convenient, non-technical term to express 

 the Auchenorhynchi, excluding the Cicadidae.'^ 



As regards the structure of t'he mouth parts the components 

 of the order Hem^ptera (or Rhynchota) are perhaps the most 

 isolated of true insects; they torm two sub-orders, viz.: tiie 

 Hctcroptcra (or "bugs" proper), and t'he Siphonata (or Homop- 

 teraj, the latter embracmg two well marked groups, Aiichciior- 

 hyiichi and Stcrnorliyiiclii, based on t'he method of articulation 

 of the labium. 



The former contains Cicadids and Leaf-hoppers; the latter, 

 Lerpinsects, Plantlice, Scalebugs, etc. The Cicadidae are not 

 included in the general term "Leaf-hoppers" and will not be 

 noticed except for purposes of comparison, the Australian 

 forms having recently been monographed bv Coding and Frog- 

 gat t. 



The first systematic disposition of any noteworthiness was 



that of Stal (1858, Stettiner Ent. Zeit., XIX, 233). in which he 



recognizes 5 families, Etilgorina, Cercopina, Cicadina, Mem- 



l)racina and Jassina, dififerentiated as follows: 



[. Middle coxae elongate, articulated remote from each other. 



Tegmina with tegulae (i) Fitlgoriiia. 



I a. Middle coxae, short, conical, approximate. Tegulae ab- 

 sent 2. 



2. Posterior coxae short, conical, not laterally dilated; tibiae 



cylindric 3. 



2a. Posterior coxae transverse, dilated up to the lateral mar- 

 margins of the sterna; tibiae (at least the posterior pair) 

 angled. (4 and 5) Mcmhracina &- Jassina, distinguished by 

 the generally relative dii^erence in the shape of the genae, 

 and the spinoseness of the femora, also t'he attachment of 

 the 'head onto the prothorax, etc. 



*The riiermoifiea (Psyllidae) are "leaf-hoppei-s" ill a sense, but belong to iinothcr 

 gronp (Sternorhynehi), and are sometimes railed popularly '-Jumping Plant l.icc." 



