i88 HOMOPTERA 



resembles the preceding insect in the form of the front legs, 

 antennae and air-tube, but has a long, slender, stick-like body. 



The Cicadas (Cicadidce) form the first family of the sub-order 

 Homoptera, and are very interesting insects, attaining to their 

 greatest size and number in tropical countries. Many are very 

 handsome insects, with beautifully coloured wings, of which the 

 front pair are always very much the larger. The head is large, 

 rather square in front, with large, prominent eyes, short antennas 

 and a rather long rostrum or beak. The perfect insect lives upon 

 trees and shrubs, piercing the tissues and sucking out the juices, 

 while the larva, which lives underground, is said to attack the 

 roots of plants. The North American Seventeen-year Cicada 

 (Cicada septendecim) is a remarkable insect, on account of its long 

 life-cycle, which lasts for seventeen years ; indeed, it has, so far 

 as is at present known, the longest life of any insect. For nearly 

 seventeen years it lives as a larva beneath the soil, often burrow- 

 ing to a considerable depth ; then, after a short, active pupa or 

 nymph stage, it comes to the surface, casts off its pupa skin, and 

 emerges as a perfect winged insect. The male Cicadas are great 

 musicians, and all through the long, hot sunny hours of the tro- 

 pical day sit concealed amongst the foliage and keep up an in- 

 cessant song; this is produced by two plates the opercula on 

 the under surface of the body, which are really very highly 

 developed and complex organs. These vocal organs are not 

 present in the female insects, which cannot produce any sound. 

 Much difference of opinion exists as to whether the song of the 

 Cicada is agreeable or not, some people enjoying it, others con- 

 sidering it most objectionable. Xenarchus, a Greek poet, wrote 

 of these insects and their song : " Happy the cicadas' lives, for 

 they all have voiceless wives." About eighteen species are found 

 in Europe, and one of the smallest, Cicada hcematodes, ranks among 

 the rare insect treasures of the New Forest. 



The family Fulgoridae includes the so-called Great Lantern Fly 

 (Fulgora lanternaria), which is found in Brazil and other parts of 

 South America. It is a large, handsome insect, with a most extra- 

 ordinary outgrowth of the front part of the head, that looks rather 

 like an Oriental lantern. It is from these curious processes on 

 the head that the FulgoridcB have gained their popular name of 

 Lantern Flies ; but it is extremely doubtful if any are luminous 



