iHos.j 53 



The type form (liere represented only by females) seems to be 

 black, witli the five basal joints of the antennae, the lega (except a 

 black spot on the femora), the mouth, a heart-shaped mark on the 

 head, the anterior margin, and a medial posteriorly-dilated blotch 

 on the thorax, orange-yellow ; and the elytra clear yellowish-white, 

 with five large rounded black spots upon each. The extreme varieties 

 are almost entirely black, having often only the cordate mark on the 

 head ; and the intermediate specimens, chiefly males, have orange- 

 coloured elytra, with transverse black bauds, varying in extent in 

 different individuals, and sometimes assuming a maculated form. It 

 was not until some time after the capture of the first specimen (taken 

 by Mr. McLachlan, when sweeping for Phryganidce), and when veiy 

 hard work in different localities, and trying every variety of tree, &c., 

 had produced but very few specimens, that the fact of Mr. Sharp's 

 being out without his net one day caused him to detect the food-plant 

 of this insect : then it was comparatively child's play, stalking the wary 

 little beauties ; an operation, however, not so easy as it seems, for they 

 dropped into the thick moss, &c., on the approach of even a shadow; and 

 one's nerves are apt to get excited at the idea of a new Gryptocejihalus. 



Thyamis liolsatica and Phyliotreta tetrastigma were the only decent 

 members of the SalticidcE to be seen ; and Goccinella ^-punctata occurred 

 rarely, among Lotus, on the same bank as the Cryptohypni. 



On our way back, a hurried rush across country to Clova, in the 

 Grrampians, produced Elaphrus lapponlcus, Carahus glabratus, Calathus 

 nubigena, BradycelluH collaria, Gymnusa variegala, Tachiniis elongattdus, 

 Anthophagus alpinus (male), &c. The Elaphrus (accompanied by uligi- 

 nosus and cupreus) was exceedingly rare, and appeared to haunt very 

 wet mossy plateaux, formed by the percolation of watersheds from the 

 mountain Lochs (Brandy, &c.). 



The above list, of course, includes only such species as a hurried 

 . examination enables us to name out of a great mass of specimens. 



E. C. Ete, 284, King's Eoad, Chelsea. 

 D. Sharp, 12, St. Vincent Street, Edinburgli. 

 July, 1865. 



AN ESSAY TOWARDS A KNOWLEDGE OF BRITISH HOMOPTEBA. 



BT THE BET. T. A. MARSHALL, M.A. 



(Continued from page 34.) 



** Pronotum postice simplex, nequaquam scutellum obtegens. 



III.— CICADELLINA. 



% Pronotum lateribus foliaceis, in auriculaa elevatis. 



