September, 1902.] 



KNOWLEDGE 



195 



N«X 



cla vi- 



th 



the antenna" that are responsible. The fore-win^s are glassy 

 anil transjiarent, with their nervures marked with dark 

 dots, from each of which 

 springs a stout hair, and in 

 these features Afirnca is onlv a 

 somewhat exaggerated repetition 

 of its relatives. But though 

 the wings are of almost normal 

 type, the antennae have run 

 into an extravagance of form, 

 projecting from the sides of 

 the head like a couple of 

 drumsticks. Their basal joint 

 is a long, flattened, angular 

 piece of apparatus, whicli is 

 succeeded by a sort of knob, 

 and this again is crowned 

 with a long and tapei-ing black 

 <■<"■"'■-■• bristle. The fore-limbs, how- 



ever, are the stranirest part of 

 whole anatomy ; their thighs and shanks, which 

 are in the main dark-coloured, are enormously broadened 

 and at the same time flattened ; the shanks taper away 

 almost to a point, irresistibly reminding one of the peg-top 

 trousers of forty years ago, and their extreme tip is almost 

 white. This little white patch is followed by the minute 

 and dark-coloured foot, and thus by its being sandwiched 

 in between two dark patches, a striking and artistic con- 

 trast is displayed. The second pair of legs are very 

 similar, but not quite so broad. It has been suggested 

 that these curious legs may be of use to the insect in 

 making its way about in the narrow spaces near the roots 

 of the rough herbage it frequents, but apparently this is 

 no more than speculation. 



Our next example shall be from the allied sub-order 

 Heteroptera, which goes with the Homoptera to make up 

 the order Rhynchota. It is called Verlwia rhombea 

 (Fig. .5), the specific name rhombea referring to the 

 curious angular shape of the 

 abdomen, which is just that of 

 the geometric figure known as 

 a rhombus. It is a yellowish- 

 brown insect, with its upper 

 wings partly stiff and horny, and 

 partly thin and membranous, 

 and its lower pair wholly mem- 

 branous. When the wings are 

 opened the body is seen to be of 

 a deep yellow colour, with a black 

 velvety patch at the base. The 

 body is very thin and flat, but 

 the expanded angular margins 

 bend slightly upwards, so that 

 even when the wings are closed 

 and fitting tightly over the 

 body, these margins still form 

 the highest points, and the rest 

 of the body lies down as it were 

 in a hollow. A rather important 

 result follows from this peculiar configuration. If an 

 insect in the course of its daily occupations should 

 happen to fall on its back, it often finds some little 

 difficulty in righting itself. If the biick is convex and 

 the legs are fairly long, a few wild struggles, by 

 pushing with the legs on one side and using those of 

 the other as a prop, will generally manage to tilt the 

 creature up, till ai last it topples over and rejoices to find 

 itself right side uppermost. But if the back be flat, or 

 worse still, concave, and the legs short, the task is far more 

 difficult, and its accomplishment often depends upon some 



FlQ. 



■TerluAia rhomhea. 



special mechanical contrivance, more or less ingenious. 

 Vertiisia is an example in point. From the thinness and 

 concavity of the body, together with the elevation of its 

 margins, it follows tiiat if this insect has the misfortune 

 to be capsized, its chances of righting itself in the ordinary 

 way would l>e rather remote, and but for some other arrange- 

 ment, it might have to remain indefinitely sprawling on its 

 back, kicking its legs in the air. But it is then that we see 

 one of the uses of the extremely thick and clumsy looking 

 antenna;, which are a good deal stouter and stronger than 

 the legs themselves. By pressing the tips of these on the 

 ground, the bug manages to hoist itself up till it is 

 supported on a tripod consisting of these two tips and the 

 end of the body. Then, by suitable shiftings of one or 

 other of the antennal i)rops, aided by struggles with the 

 legs, it at last overbalances, and so returns to the normal 

 position. Apparently, therefore, in this case there is a 

 co-ordination Ixjtween the shape of the body and the 

 structure of the antenuiB which cannot be accidental, 

 though one would not hesitate to admit that there may be 

 other reasons also for the flatness of the one and the 

 stoutness of the other. 



Our next oddity is a lovely little being belonging to the 

 same sub-order, and representing a family of which we 

 have in this country about twenty species, some of them 

 very abundant, others equally rare. They form the group 

 of small insects generally known as Lace-Bugs, from the 

 peculiar formation of their wing-covers. Of this group, 

 our selected representative, Derephysia foliacea, is certainly 

 the most remarkable in shape and appearance. As all its 

 beauties anfl peculiarities are crowded into a length of not 

 more than ^ of an inch, a hand lens, or even a low power 

 of the compound microscope, is needed to give a true idea 

 of its form. Applying such aids to vision, we see that its 

 little head is overarched by a sort of helmet or cowl, 

 composed of transparent membrane, which is divided up 

 into a few distinct areas by strong brownish nervures. 

 This hood is really a part of the prothorax, and from it 

 there run three upright keels of the same material down 

 across the little black thorax. From the sides of the 

 thorax rise, like an Elizabethan ruff, two similar stiff, 

 broad membranes, each rendered net-like in appearance 

 by the nervures which divide it up into cell-like areas. 

 The upper pair of wings, again, is made of the same sort of 

 lace-like membrane ; their central area is raised, as are 

 also the outer margins, which stretch considerably beyond 

 the body and seem to continue the line of the thoracic 

 frill. Thus the whole insect seems to be not only covered 

 with lace, but also surrounded by a deep frill of the same 

 material, and the glassy membrane which fills the meshes 

 of the lace glitters as the insect moves and the light falls 

 on it in different directions. No drawing is here given of 

 this little bug, as none can do justice to it, or show its 

 real form, which must lie seen under the compound micro- 

 scojie to be fully appreciated. 



These delicate little beings are fairly common, and may 

 be found by anyone who will take the trouble to look for 

 them. They are retiring in habits, and do not court 

 notice. But those who are willing to spend a few hours 

 searching in likely spots, to turn over dead leaves or other 

 rubbish in woods or by roadsides and under hedges, or to 

 beat ivy, hoUy and otlier dry bushy vegetation over a net, 

 will be sure to be rewarded for their trouble by finding 

 specimens, whose movements can then be watched at 

 leisure. Those who do not care to undertake such a 

 search, but would still like to see creatures similar to this 

 in a state of nature, may easily do so by searching the 

 flower heads of that common weed, the Scotch thistle. 

 There is one particular lace-bug, called Monanthia cardui, 

 which lives on these thistle-heads, lying among the scales 



