NOTE ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF CICAD.'E. 369 . 



personally known. He has left no writings to perpetuate his 

 name, and future ages will know him only through his eponyms, 

 the British Noctuid, Tajmiostola Bondi, and the Indian Longi- 

 corn, Xynenon Bondi. But by his surviving friends his memory 

 will be cherished ; and to those who knew him best, his long and 

 happy life will be the sweetest retrospect. 



J. W. Dunning. 



NOTE ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF CICADA. 

 By G. B. Buckton, F.R.S., &c. 



As Entomological science progresses, the families of Ehyn- 

 chota call for more attention in this country than has been 

 hitherto bestowed upon them. Good workers, like Messrs. 

 Douglas and Scott, in their ' Monograph on the Hemiptera- 

 Heteroptera,' and Mr. James Edwards in his ' Synopsis of British 

 Cicadinge,' have published valuable matter relating to this order 

 of insects. Still no illustrated work on the last-named sub- 

 family exists, though the group offers considerable interest both 

 in the varied forms and colours of the species, their life-histories, 

 and, from a literary point of view, in the curious mythic notions 

 connected with some species ; which have been spun from the 

 imaginations of not a few ancient classic poets. 



To assist in the identification of the British species, generally 

 recognized by the name of Cicadse or Cicadidse, I have a 

 monograph in preparation, which will appear towards the 

 commencement of the next year, giving coloured representations 

 of all the British species, — upwards of two hundred, — which have 

 come under my notice. 



Zoological classification must primarily depend on the com- 

 parison of species with species, which involves a kind of 

 uncertainty as to what characters shall be used to form a system 

 that lays claim to be in any sense a natural one. Thus, 

 much will depend on the opinion of the systematist, and the 

 acumen he shows in fixing on those characters which are really 

 specific. 



Probably many will hesitate to accept the words of Fabricius 

 as to generic names, "Optima nomina quae omnino nil signi- 

 ficant." Yet it will be admitted, that in forming the main heads 

 of classification, the use of highly distinctive names may some- 

 times occasion inconsistency. 



Latreille divided the Cicadse or Cigalles into " les Chan- 

 teuses " and " les Muettes," and quite lately, Mr. W. L. Distant 

 has divided the Indian Cicadidse he describes into two groups, 

 ■which practically separates the singing from the silent genera. 

 The insects comprised in the latter division must be numerous in 



