HEMIPTEEA. 115 



from my fright, I caught all my insects again, and admired this 

 singular property of theirs." 



Since the time when Mile de Merian visited Guyana, differ- 

 ent travellers have said that they could not observe, as she did, 

 this phosphorescent phenomenon. It is, then, probable that this 

 property only exists in the male or female insect, and then only 

 at certain seasons. 



What a marvellous spectacle must the rich valleys of Guyana 

 present, when in the stillness of the night the air is filled with 

 living torches ; when the Fulgorce flying about in space the flashes 

 of fire cross each other, go out and blaze up again, shine brightly 

 and then die out, and present, on a calm evening, the appear- 

 ance of those lightning flashes which only show themselves 

 generally in the sky ! 



Let us now go on to another interesting insect of the order of 

 which we are treating, the Aphrophora, without being frightened 

 by its disagreeable name, for there are many other names we may 

 give it if we choose, among those by which it is popularly known. 

 In the months of June and July, one sees on nearly every tree 

 and on plants of the most different kinds a sort of white froth, 

 composed of air bubbles, deposited on the leaves and branches. 

 It is produced by an insect which the peasants in France call, 

 Crachat de Coucou, and which is called in England, Cuckoo's 

 spittle, or, ~&cume printaniere (spring froth). De Geer carefully 

 studied the metamorphoses of this insect. The Aphrophora (from 

 a^po's, foam, and <<#<*>, I bear or carry) is lodged in the froth of 

 which we have just been speaking. It lives in it, only leaving it 

 when it has its wings. De Geer wondered why this insect con- 

 fines itself during the whole of its life in liquid, and concludes 

 that the froth has the effect of protecting the insect from the 

 burning heat of the sun. This covering seems also to protect it 

 from the attacks of carnivorous insects and spiders. On the other 

 hand, its skin is without doubt so constituted that it would perspire 

 too freely if it were exposed to the air, and the inseet would very 

 soon die dried up. Whatever explanation may be given of the 

 necessity for this semi- aerial, semi-liquid medium, it is easy to 

 verify the fact that the larva of the Aphrophora cannot live long 

 out of its frothy envelope. If withdrawn from it, the volume of 



i 2 



