XXIV INTRODTJCTION. 



with a resinous gum, suited to resist the effects of 

 rain. Though this is contradicted by Eeaumur, he 

 afterwards admits that the female closes the furrows 

 with woody fibres torn from the plant, by the action 

 of her saws. The quarrel, though sharp, seems to 

 have had something of the character of a " storm in 

 a tea- cup." 



Keaumur was well acquainted with the eggs of 

 Cicadae, but he failed to hatch them artificially. At one 

 time he discovered some worm-like grubs, which at 

 first he thought were the earliest forms of the insect, 

 and that they were the produce of the above noted 

 eggs. Afterwards he proved that these six-footed 

 grubs were the immature forms of a predatory 

 ichneumon-fly. In Eeaumur's time Cicadas' eggs 

 were eaten, and considered to be dainties, possessing, 

 he says, a flavour equal to that of the ova of the cray- 

 fish and lobster ! 



Baron DeGeer, in 1780, gave descriptions of many 

 small Cicadae, which he illustrated by numerous 

 woodcuts. Amongst other forms he describes Cicada 

 nervosa (Cixius), and Cicada cornuta (Centrotus) of 

 Linnseus, both of which insects are met with in Britain. 

 His group of " Les petites Cigales " consists mostly of 

 foreign insects, which it is now impossible to identify ; 

 but amongst the froth-making Cicadas he notes four, 

 viz., C. spnmciria, C. salicis, C. grisea, and C. graminis. 



Cuckoo-spittle in his time was called ecume pintaniere 

 and also crachat clc grcnoniJh. In Sweden it was then 

 known as grots-spot. He correctly afiirms that this 

 spume is voided from the anus. DeGeer devotes 

 Plate 12 of his ' Memoire pour servir de I'histoire des 

 Insectes' to "les Cigales." After describing several 

 species, he observantly points out the peculiar append- 

 ages to the last abdominal segments of the males of 

 certam kinds. He divides the Cicada? into five 

 famihes, which, commencing with the Lantern-fly, 

 passes to the true Cicadae, thence to the horned 

 Centrotus, through the Cercopidffi or spume-bearing 



