A QUEER LITTLE FAMILY ON THE BITTERSWEET IOI 



spring. What, then, is this canopy of the tree- 

 hopper but the provision of a thoughful mother, a 

 pavilion about her offspring as a shelter through 

 the winter storms? In early July the tiny hop- 

 pers emerge from their egg-cases, and presumably 

 creep out from their luminous domicile, and later 

 on in the season these broods of varying numbers 

 and all sizes are to be seen among the young 

 stems of the plant, their beaks inserted, their 

 pointed heads invariably in the same direction — 

 towards the top of the branch. Even though in 

 flight one of the midgets is seen to alight in vio- 

 lence to the rule, he instantly recognizes his mis- 

 take, and quickly glides round to the orthodox 

 position. 



This curious insect is chiefly confined to the 

 bittersweet, though he is occasionally found in the 

 company of a much bigger cousin of his on the 

 branches of the locust, where these same telltale 

 corrugated frothy pavilions are often seen to 

 clothe the young twigs in their white tufts, the 

 similar product of the larger species, which thus 

 also presumably spends its entire life upon the 

 locust-tree. 



