LANTERN-FLIES, ETC. 115 
The family contains a wonderful variety of forms, some of which 
have been mistaken for butterflies and moths, others for neurop- 
terous insects, which some closely imitate. 
The most useful characteristic by which to recognize these 
insects is by their compressed, vertical, often carinated face, and 
by the bristle-shaped feelers, which are inserted into a button- 
shaped base on the side of the cheeks beneath the round eyes; 
below the latter appears a small ocellus. 
None of these insects have attracted the attention of our 
farmers, although all are vegetable feeders; in the tropics some 
cause great injury to crops. All our species are small in com- 
parison with some of their exotic relatives, some of which spread 
more than six inches across their expanded wings. 
Fic. 107.—Ormenis pruinosa Say. Original. Fic. 108.—Ormenis pruinosa Say. 
a, eggs. much enlarged; b, eggsin 
bark; c, twig with eggs. 
Ormenis pruinosa Say. (The Mealy Flata). 
In this genus the broad wing-covers are a little wider at 
the tip and cut off squarely; they are closely applied to each 
other in a vertical position. The insects vary greatly in length, 
from one-third to nearly one-half an inch from the front to the 
end of the wing-covers. Their flight is feeble, and they flutter 
about like small moths, which they greatly resemble when their 
wings are spread out, as shown in Fig. 107. The one illustrated 
is of a slate, dark gray, or even blackish color, made bluish by a 
