INSECTA. 133 



a space of five or six feet, and in making this movement, 

 produce a crackling sound ; in the month of September 

 they may be found in hedges everywhere. The larvce 

 of these cicada are of a yellow-green color, and furnished 

 with six feet ; they run rapidly and leap well ; live in 

 companies on plants, and derive their nourishment from 

 the sap, which they suck. They draw forth more of the 

 vegetable juices than serves them for food ; the rejected 

 portion assumes the appearance of froth or foam, and is 

 often accumulated into small heaps, from which hangs a 

 drop of clear, honey-like fluid, vulgarly termed cuckoo- 

 spittle. In the larva and nympha state this foam serves 

 them for a receptacle in which their metamorphosis is 

 accomplished. Various species of cicadariae are found in 

 South America, uttering constantly their monotonous 

 sound, which resembles the sound made by the running 

 down of a clock. 



The Surinam Lantern Bearer (fulgora laternaria). 

 This large and beautiful specimen of the genus cicada is 

 three inches long ; has legs formed for leaping, and wings 

 resembling those of the locust; on the front of the head 

 is a large illuminous globe, of a membraneous texture, 

 called the lantern, which, in the night, diffuses so strong 

 a phosphoric light that persons are enabled to read con- 

 veniently by the aid of two of these insects. This is a 

 popular belief, but how far entitled to be credited is not 

 proved. Its color is olive-green, variegated in the form 

 of white stripes and marks ; the lower pair of wings are 

 decorated by large, brown, eye-shaped spots; it is a 

 native of Surinam, but is very rare. There is a similar 

 species found in China. 



Equally rare is 



The European Lantern Fly (fulgora Europaea),five 



