1879.] 79 



coarser than siilcatus, but tlie pattern of tlie striae follows exaratus. 

 The thorax is narrowed in front, from an angle about the middle, 

 which is the case with the common American species. 



^LETES ELAYITAESIS, 71. Sp. 



Ovalis, convexus,i}iceus, nitidus, Icevigatus ; antennis pedihusque hrunneis, 

 tarsisjlavis. 



Hab. : Honolulu. 



This species is rather smaller thanpoZ«Y2<5,Lec.,with the presternum 

 nearly as wide in front as long, arched at sides, base two-thirds only of 

 the length. The mesostcruum is smooth, and has a few shallow 

 impressions scattered down the middle (visible with a good glass), and 

 the line separating it from the metasternum is clear and defined. 



Folkestone : Augtist, 1879. 



AUDITION OF THE CICADIDJS. 

 BT A. H. SWINTOIT. 



Yarious parts of an insect, antenuse, palpi, and fore tarsi, represent 

 the sense of touch : but in the case of the antennae, since these organs 

 are present and highly complex where their abbreviation or immobility 

 militates against exercise of such function, it is not surprising that 

 audition and smell should be attributed to them. Thus Straus- 

 Diirckheim notices the nerve-branches that penetrate them ; and 

 Newport (Trans. Ent. Soc, vol. ii, pp. 229—248, 1838) their tracheal 

 offshoots ; both considering them auditory. Erichson (Disser. de 

 fabr. et usu anten. Berlin, 1847) observed pores variously disposed in 

 their integument, and closed by a thin membrane ; which Vogt 

 (Zoolog. Briefe, Erankfiirt a. M., 1851) described as hairy : they con- 

 sider them olfactory. Then Lespes (Ann. des Scien. Nat., 1858) 

 mentions otolithes in connection, which Claparede (Ann. des Scien. 

 Nat., 1858), states to be tubes. Lastly, Dr. Hicks (Trans. Lin. Soc, 

 vol. xxii, p. 147) describes the pores as including a fluid and severally 

 closed by a membrane, sometimes thin, sometimes thickened and raised 

 to a hair-like eminence ; while a nerve, entering the antennae, sends a 

 branch that ramifies on their inner side. 



As regards experimental proof, authorities are likewise divided. 

 Those who consider the antennae auditory oi'gans, direct attention to 

 their movement when the insect appears to be disturbed by sound ; 

 those who maintain they are olfactor}^, to their employment by certain 



