﻿BIOLOGIC NOTES. 



Stkidulation. 



In my first memoir (p. 285) it was stated that though Per- 

 kuisicUa saccharicida had often been heard to stridulate distinct- 

 ly, by the Entomolcgists of this Station, researches on the phe- 

 nomenon had not yet been made 



On his return from Fiji, Mr. Muir handed me the foUowing 

 notes, upon which it is scarcely necessary to enlarge : 



"One hot, still morning, when collecting in Fiji, my attention 

 was attracted to a small palm, from which a distinct noise of 

 insects stridulating proceeded. I found the underside of the 

 leaves covered with hundreds of a small red leafhopper [Miiiria 

 stridula PI. 20 figs. 10-13). Their tegmina and wings were 

 erected above the back and occasionally gave caie or two rapid 

 movements; sometimes the abdomen was jerked up and down. 

 I recognized it as similar to one I had taken in Natal some years 

 ago, in which the wings were exceedingly small and used entirely 

 as stridulating organs. Upon examination I found the wings in 

 the present species were likewise used for that purpose. The 

 tegmina are about 6 mill, long, whilst the wings are only half a 

 millimetre, the anal lobe being larger than the rest of the wing, 

 thickened and corrugated on the hind margin of the upper side. 



"The costal margin is turned Civer and catches into a fold 

 along the margin of the tegmina ; by this means it moves with 

 the tegmina. The corrugated surface is opposed to the anterior 

 angles of the abdomen where there are several white bristles sit- 

 uated. 



"In another, {Proutista mocsta PI. 20 figs. 8-9) from Java, 

 the tegmina are about 5>4 mill, long and the wings 3 mill, the 

 anal area larger in proportion to the rest of the wing and corru- 

 gated on the upper side. 



"In another, {Pyrrhonenra saccharicida PI. 20 figs. 6-7), from 

 biji. the tegmina are about 4 mill, long and the wings 3 mill, 

 the broad edge of the anal area being corrugated. The C(?.rru- 

 srations thin out erraduallv on each side, and one can see that 



