1913] Wing Veins of Membracid<2 79 



In addition to the species actually examined, careful com- 

 parison has been made with as many figured wings of the 

 Membracidae as could be located" and it has been a satisfaction 

 to note that in practically all cases there is a constant and easily 

 worked out agreement with the homologies as herein suggested. 



Since the Membracidae is principally an American family, 

 only a few genera being found on the continent of Europe^, but 

 two species in Britain'-* and very few^ reported from other parts 

 of the world, there seems no reason to believe that our local 

 forms in New York should not be typical of the family. More- 

 over, the venation is quite uniform throughout the family and 

 it appears reasonable to suppose that the homologies as here 

 worked out for the representative genera figured will be readily 

 applicable to the entire IMembracidae. 



NOMENCLATURE 



Many of the specific, generic and sub-family distinctions in 

 the Membracidae are dependent upon the venation, and most 

 tables and keys to the family follow the nomenclature of Fowler, 

 Coding and others in which the characters of the cells are used 

 as a basis of classification. Little attention has been paid to 

 the veins except as to their number at the base of the wing or as 

 forming the "petiole" of a cell. 



The cells are called "areoles" or "areas" and are described 

 as "marginal", "discoidal", "apical", "anterior", etc., and 

 their bases as "petiolate", "truncate", etc., but little attempt 

 has been made to identify the veins which limit these cells. 

 Fowler in his discussion of the Ceresini in the Biologia^° describes 

 the "costal", "radial" and "ulnar" veins, and this nomencla- 

 ture has been used to some extent by other writers. 



The fore wing is commonly spoken of as the tegmina and 

 its venation often designated as the elytral venation. The 

 hind wing is referred to as the under wing or the second w4ng. 

 The corium is often discussed separately, as is also the clavus 



7. In the plates of Canon Fowler in the Biologia Central! Americana partic- 

 ularly, the figures, while representing forms foreign to our fauna, are evidently 

 very accurately reproduced and agree to a remarkable extent with our North 

 American species, so far as venation is concerned. 



8. Canon Fowler. Bio. Cent. Amer., Insecta: Rhynchota, Homoptera. 

 Part II, p. 2. 



9. Cambridge Natural History, Insects Part II, p. 577. 



10. Biologia Centrali Americana, Insecta: Rhvnchota, Homoptera. 

 Part II, p. 87. 



