LANTERN FLIES. 209 



Fulgoridce and Membracidce are remarkable for their strange forms 

 and bright colours, and several of the latter family strongly re- 

 semble Lepidoptera in appearance. Nor are the smaller species to 

 be undervalued, for the Coccidce provide us with shellac and cochi- 

 neal, and the Coccidce and Aphidce are among the most destructive 

 insects which ravage our fields and gardens. The Aphidce are in- 

 teresting for other reasons also. Their extraordinary cycle of 

 alternating generations, and the relations between ants and 

 Aphidce, are problems which have excited the attention of natu- 

 ralists for several generations, and are still far from being com- 

 pletely understood. All the Homoptera are plant-feeding insects. 



FAMILY I. Cicadidce. 



Antennae short, seven-jointed ; tarsi three-jointed ; ocelli three ; 

 legs not fitted for leaping ; male provided with abdominal drums, 

 and female with an exserted ovipositor. 



The Cicadidce are inhabitants of warm climates, and our only 

 British representative of the family (C. Anglica, Curt.) is one of 

 the smaller species, the wings only expanding about an inch and 

 a quarter, though even thus it is our largest Homopterous insect. 



With a few exceptions, the species are of a black, green, or 

 yellowish colour, and the wings are either transparent or marked 

 with a row of moderate-sized black spots on the nervures. The 

 drums vary considerably in size in the males of different species, 

 but are generally very conspicuous, and are sometimes nearly as 

 long as the abdomen itself. 



Three conspicuous species are almost always to be observed in 

 abundance in collections of insects from China. One is a large 

 black species with transparent wings, having the extreme base 

 blackish and coriaceous ; it measures about three and a half inches 

 in expanse (Fidicina Atrata, Sign.). The second species is black, 

 but in this the wings are smoky black, and both body and wings 

 are spotted with yellow (Gecena Maculata, Fabr.). The third species 

 is much smaller, not expanding more than two inches, and its 

 body is much longer and more slender in proportion than in any 

 other of the two preceding species. It is black, with smoky-black 

 wings, and the head, abdomen, and two large spots on the meso- 

 thorax are of a blood-red colour (Huechys Sanguinea, Amyot). 



Platypleura Stridula, Linn., from South Africa, is a very pretty 

 species ; it is greenish, spotted with black, the fore wings are grey, 

 with green, brown, and transparent spots and blotches. The hind 







