THE HEM1PTERA. 119 



amongst brushwood during the hot sunny days so 

 common from January till March. Its larva inhabits the 

 earth earlier in the summer, and its curious pupa can 

 often be observed crawling up the stems of trees in order 

 to allow the perfect insect to emerge. After this has 

 taken place the exuviae still remain firmly attached to 

 the tree, and are very conspicuous objects ; but if it is 

 desired to remove them great care must be taken not to 

 break off the legs, which are always very brittle. 



The perfect insects are at once betrayed by their loud 

 singing, which, in certain localities, becomes quite deafen- 

 ing. This noise is entirely confined to the males, and 

 proceeds from two large drum-like organs, situated on the 

 under surface of the abdomen near its base, which, in con- 

 junction with the curious ovipositor existing in the females 

 constitute good sexual distinctions throughout the family. 

 The structure of these two organs having been admirably 

 described by several European authors renders it quite 

 unnecessary for me to do so here. 



Closely allied to the present insect is Cicada muta, the 

 female of which is depicted on Plate XX., fig. 2. The male 

 is often of a reddish-brown colour, but the insect is an 

 extremely variable one. It is found in similar situations 

 to C. cingulata, but appears rather earlier in the year. 



Family 



Cicada iolanthe, n.s. (Plate XX., fig. 3, 3a larva, 3b pupa). 

 This is the first species of Cicada to appear in the 

 spring, and is found during November and December. 

 Its larva (Fig. 3a) is a curious little animal, the two hind- 

 legs being very long. I am at present unable to state with 

 certainty what constitutes its food, but am extremely 

 doubtful whether it consists of the juices imbibed from the 

 roots of plants, as is generally supposed. The anterior 

 legs, although probably chiefly constructed for digging, 



