The Fulgoridae or Plant-Hoppers of Mis- 

 sissippi, Including Those of Possible Oc- 

 currence; a Taxonomic, Biological, 

 Ecological, and Economic Study vw^'; 



By Herbert L. Dozier, Ph. D. 



INTRODUCTION 



Kirkaldy has called attention to the fact that the genus 

 Fulgora was erected by Linnaeus in 1767 (Syst. Nat., 

 Ed. 12, Tom. I, 703), and the type was fixed by Sulzer in 

 1776 (Algek. Gesch. Ins. 85), as europaea Linn. This being 

 the earliest genus and type, the super-family and the family 

 take their names from it. The erection of the Family 

 Fulgoridae is credited to Latreille in 1807. 



While the Membracids have the prothorax developed into 

 many curious and odd shapes, in Fulgorids the head has 

 undergone widely varied development. In both groups, this 

 specialization into odd shapes and forms seems to have no 

 definite or known purpose other than that of possible pro- 

 tection and mimicry. 



The family is remarkable for certain exotic forms which 

 it contains. Among these may be mentioned the great 

 Lantern-fly of South America and the strange Candle-flies 

 of China and the East Indies. The fact that some of the 

 species were supposed to be phosphorescent has given the 

 name of Lantern-flies to members of the family. However, 

 none of our native species are phosphorescent and for them 

 at least this name is a misnomer. A better name, as sug- 

 gested by Prof. Z. P. Metcalf, would be that of Plant- 

 hoppers. 



Members of this family reach their highest development 

 in oddness of shape and more highly colored forms in the 

 tropics. A great many of these insects have the curious 

 faculty of excreting large quantities of a whitish flocculent 

 wax. We find this capacity greatly developed in the tropi- 



* Contribution from the Dept. of Zoology and Entomology of the Ohio State University 

 and the State Plant Board of Mississippi. 



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