188 



FTTLGORID.E, OR LANTERN-FLIES. CERCOPID^. 



FIG. 413. FULUORA LANTERNARIA. 



sound, and have the legs more adapted for leaping. Many of 

 them are distinguished by a curious prolongation of the forehead, 

 which sometimes equals the rest of tue body in size. The shape 

 of this projection varies extremely in the different species, which 

 are numerous in many tropical regions. It is in it, that the 



luminous property of the 

 Lantern-fly (Fig. 413) is 

 said to exist; but the 

 luminosity of this in- 

 sect, of which one spe- 

 cies is a native of Guiana, 

 and another of China, 

 is doubted by many na- 

 turalists, the evidence in 

 regard to it not being sufficient. If it really exists, it is only at 

 particular seasons. The Lantern-fly of Guiana seems to be an 

 exception to the general rule, with respect to the absence of 

 sound -producing powers in this Order ; for it produces, from 

 sun-set to sun-rise, a loud sound which has been compared with 

 that of a razor-grinder at work. 



718. The family CERCOPIDJE consists of insects of small size ; 

 many of which are remarkable for the grotesqueness of the forms 

 they assume. Several species are inhabitants of this country, 

 and are known under the name of Frog-hoppers, from their leap- 

 ing powers ; or of Froth-hoppers, from their peculiar frothy 

 secretion ; or of Cuckoo-spits, from the supposed origin of this fluid. 



The most singular forms, 

 however, are confined to 

 the tropics ; and exam- 

 ples of them are present- 

 ed in the accompanying 

 figures of two Brazilian 

 species, whose curious 



FIG. 414.-a, Bocydium globulare ; b, B. cruciatum. a p pen( Jages result from 



an extraordinary development of the first segment of the thorax. 

 The insects of this family are often beautifully varied in their 

 colours ; they are constantly found upon plants, upon the juices 



