DARTHULA. 77 



The following very peculiar genus affords considerable taxo- 

 nomical difficulty. Its describer seems quite correctly to have 

 placed it near "■^EthaUon, Latr.," which Stal has located at the end 

 of the Centrotince (Membracida?). Ashmead (' Ent. Americana,' 

 V, p. 125, 1889) uses uEthalion as the type of his subfamily 

 JEthaUonime, which he places in the Blythoscopidte, influenced by 

 the " general facies and the position of the ocelh." 



The provisional view held here is that Darthula is allied to 

 jEtJialion and the position selected by Stal for the latter genus is 

 used, rather than that of Ashmead. Some caution is, however, 

 necessary in making this choice, for despite frequent statements 

 to the contrary, some writers, especially Bergroth and Eeuter, have 

 chosen to regard these volumes on tlie Indian Rhynchota as purely 

 taxonomical contributions and to severely criticise any departure 

 from what, according to their point of view, should be a compul- 

 sory classification. Prom this ruling we entirely dissent, and 

 regard final classificatory schemes as yet unattained. Our object 

 is to render the Indian Rhynchota recognizable, not for pedantic 

 division, but for the more important object of bionomical and 

 economic observation. 



Genus DARTHULA. 



Urophora, G. R. Gray *, Griff". Ed. Anim. Kingd., Ins. n, p. 261 



(1832), nom. prseocc. 

 Darthula, Kirk. Entomologist, 1900, p. 242 (n. nom.). 



Type, D. hardwicJci, Gray. 



DistrihtUion. Oriental Region. 



Face concealed beneath the frontal edge of pronotum, the eyes 

 only visible as seen from above, between eyes convexly transversely 

 ridged, before which it is foveate and beyond which it is laterally 

 deflected ; pronotum moderately compressed with a central strong 

 longitudinal lunulate ridge, as seen from above the lateral margins 

 narrowing anteriorly, the posterior margin carinate ; scutellum 

 distinct, triangular, apically subacute ; abdomen provided with a 

 long apical process, about or nearly as long as the whole body, 

 covered with long bristly hairs, with a strong triangular tubercle 

 at base, its apex inconspicuously bituberculate ; femora moderately 

 thickened, tibiae much shorter than femora, tarsi with the apical 

 joint longer than the two basal joints together, claws very robust ; 

 abdomen narrowing to apex, beneath concave, posterior segmental 

 margins ridged, above convex ; tegmina coriaceous, apically 

 narrowed, the apex obtusely subacute, costal margin moderately 

 convex, densely and reticulately veined, the veins raised and 

 prominent, costal area very broad ; wings shorter and narrower 

 than tegmina, with two long apical areas, anal area divided into 

 irregularly shaped interspaces. 



* Kirkalcly {supra) gives Westwood as the describer of this genus and the 

 type hardwicki, but does not state his reason for doing so. 



