A MYSTERIOUS ARMATURE. 



739 



of the upper wings being brown and white, and those of the 

 lower pair pure white. Some species of this genus, as, for 

 example. Flata margimlla of Northern India, have the females 

 rlocculent like those of the Phenax, while the males have broad 

 expansive wings, and no flocculence. There are many species of 

 Flata, spread over the warmest parts of Asia, New Guinea, 

 South Africa, and other countries. 



Here is another of the eccentric formations so often seen in 

 the Homoptera. Tho figure is enlarged to rather more than 

 twice the size of the real insect, so as to show the singular 

 structure. Its body is studded with long and curved spikes, 

 and in this respect it very 

 much resembles the strange 

 little beetle (Amphisternus 

 Satanas) which has been 

 described on page 273. 

 Putting the spikes aside, 

 the outline of the insect 

 when seen in profile has a 

 curious resemblance to that 

 of a large ant. This species 

 inhabits the lower Amazons. 



The general colour of the 

 insect is pale yellow, with 

 some black streaks on the 

 front of the thorax ; and the 

 spikes, together with the 



two projections in the middle of the body, shining black. In 

 consequence of these long spikes, it has received its specific 

 name. There are many species, of which this is by far the 

 largest, and some are quite tiny. 



Fig. 4S0. — Hetercnotus avuiiatus. 

 (Pale red.) 



Any classical reader will remember the hero GEdipus, and the 

 origin of his name, which signifies " swollen foot." The insects 

 of the genus CEda have received their name from the singular 

 structure of their body. We have seen one or two examples of 

 insects in which the abdomen is swollen and empty, but in these 

 the whole body is little but a skin as empty as a blown bladder 

 the vital and muscular parts being scarcely perceptible. 



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