2 MEMBR.VCID.'E 



comparison of ty])es and specimens, his work, apart from its 

 limitations, is a standard of energy and determination. He drew 

 all the iigures himself, which was sometimes disadvantageous, for 

 althoLi'^h a painter in oils of considerable merit, he naturally 

 lacked that minnte and microscopic delineation which is indispens- 

 able to the entomological artist. By the kindness of his family 

 his collection of the Membracidae has passed into my hands, and I 

 have thus been able to study his types and genera. Of course 

 Walker's types have always been at my examination ; Dr. Horvath 

 has kindly let me see such of Melichar's Ceylonese species as are 

 contained in the Museum Hongrois at Budapest ; Prof. Poulton 

 has done me the same service as regards species described by 

 Buckton from the Hope Collection ; both Drs. Aurivillius and 

 SjiJstedt have assisted me VAith cotypes of Stal's species in the 

 Stockholm Museum, and I am under similar obligation to 

 Dr. Bolivar of Madrid and Dr. Handlirsch of Vienna. 



The Membracidae of British India, or of tlie Old World 

 generally, cannot compare with those of the Neotropical Region 

 either in number, colour, or structure, and it is in the latter region 

 that this family reaches its zenith in development. 



The natural position of the Membracidae among the other 

 families of the Homoptera is still sub judice. Stal and Hansen 

 consider the Membracidae as essentially belonging to the Jassidae, 

 and not without substantial if not adequate reason. I, however, 

 incline to the views of most modern writers on the subject and 

 consider the Membracidae as a very distinct subfamily, linked to the 

 Cercopidae by the IlacJicerotuw, and this at least has to be con- 

 ceded, whether according to different views the Cercopidae precede 

 or follow the Membracidae in classification. The family is divided 

 into six subfamilies, of which two are found in our fauna, and in 

 Fowler's opinion tliese two subfamilies might be sufficient to 

 embrace the whole of the Membracidae. It is probable that there 

 is considerable argument in this view, though at present with sonie 

 rhynchotal systematists, or those at least qualified to express 

 dogmatic opinions, an artificial system once promulgated is to be 

 accepted as a biological canon. 



Belt (' The Naturalist in Nicaragua,' pp. 22G-7) states that 

 certain species of Membracidae were attended by ants for the sake 

 of a sweet secretion. E. E. Green (Ent. Month. Mag. xxxvi, 

 p. 185) has recorded some practically similar observations made by 

 himself in Ceylon. 



Synopsis of Suhfaniilies. 



A. Scutellum wanting or obsolete, or entirely 



concealed by the pronotum ; the tibiae, or at 

 least the intermediate and anterior tibiae, 

 more or less dilated Memhracince. 



B. Scutellum usually distinct and more or less 



uncovered, its apex generally excavate or 



broadly sinuate, the apical angles acute .... Centrotince. 



