598 INSECT A SUB-ORDER HOMOPTERA. 



something like this : " They feed on the eggs which the fishermen lay on the 



banks of the streams, in clusters of six lines long 

 ky three broad." If I remember right, the pass- 

 age was translated from the French, and I 

 have little doubt that in the original some ex- 

 pression was used equivalent to " water-boat- 

 rnen." It reminds me of another story which I 

 read in the translation of a Russian book of 

 travels, in which an elephant was described as 

 seizing an object with his tail, instead of his 

 Fig. 89. -WATER-BUG (Zaitha, trunk. I have also heard of a translation of a 

 aurantiaca), WITH EGOS. German book, in which a naturalist on ship- 



Nat, size, board, who wanted to shoot a bird, was de- 



scribed as taking down the back-shutters, 



instead of the breech-loader. 



SUB-ORDER HOMOPTERA (FROG-HOPPERS, PLANT-LICE, ETC.). 



A great number of insects are classed under this sub-order, which we have 



already briefly defined. They do not emit any foul odour like the Heterop- 



tera ; their antennae are generally very short ; and they are 



Sub-Order exclusively plant-feeders. Some of them supply us with 



Homoptera. useful products, such as shell-lac and cochineal, while others 



are among the most injurious insects which infest our 



gardens and greenhouses. 



The Homoptera are divided into several very distinct families, of which the 

 first is the Cicadidce. They are large, wedge-shaped insects, with a broad 

 head, large eyes, a pointed body, with a short ovipositor in 

 Family the female, and broad wings, which are generally, but not 



Cicadidce. always, transparent. When at rest, the wings are folded 

 roof-like over the body, and generally extend considerably 

 beyond the abdomen. They are difficult insects to classify, as the most 

 tangible characters available for the purpose are to be found in the drums of 

 the males. These organs are found on each side of the abdomen, and are 

 visible above in some genera, while in others they are covered by a flap. On 

 the under-surface they are always covered by two flaps, called the opercula, 

 which are sometimes very short, small, and rounded, and in others are very 

 large, and extend nearly to the end of the abdomen. In the Australian genus 

 Thopha, amongst the opercula are extended over the sides of the abdomen, as 

 well as beneath. In Tibicina (Latr.), there are no covers at all on the upper 

 surface of the abdomen ; and in Zammara (Amyot), the rims of the openings are 

 slightly raised, giving them something of a pitcher shape. It_has been pro- 

 posed to divide the Gicadidce into two sub-families, according to whether the 

 drums are open or closed above ; but I find, not only that the upper abdominal 

 covers differ very much in completeness or absence, but that many genera, 

 otherwise closely allied, run in pairs, one with closed, and one with open tympana. 

 The sounds made by these insects have always made them celebrated, and 

 they are among the noisiest denizens of the tropical forests. They are, how- 

 ever, difficult to capture, as they are not easily seen, and their flight, when 

 disturbed, is very sudden and rapid. This is chiefly a tropical family, and 

 the largest known species, Pomponia imperatoria (Westwood), which inhabits 



