408 THE HOMOPTERA. 



ments in the water are exceedingly sluggish, so that 

 it is compelled to prey upon the more helpless inha- 

 bitants of the water, such as the larvae of the Ephemerae. 

 This is also the case with the other tailed species, 

 the Ranatra linearis, a long narrow insect about an 

 inch and a half in length, with its legs and caudal 

 filaments elongated in proportion. ^ 



In the broad-headed species of this group (such as 

 the Notonecta and Corixae] we find the front of the 

 head arched round to such an extent that the base of 

 the rostrum is between those of the anterior legs, a 

 character in which these insects approach those of 

 the second great section of the Rhynchota, or the 



Suborder HOMOPTERA. 



In these we always find the lower part of the head 

 bent backwards towards the breast, so that the ros- 

 trum springs from between the anterior coxae, or 

 nearly so, whilst the anterior wings or elytra are 

 usually of the same texture throughout, or at all 

 events never exhibit that distinct separation into a 

 corium and membrane which we have seen to be 

 characteristic of the first section of this order. The 

 hind-legs are generally constructed for leaping, and 

 the tarsi for the most part composed of three joints. 

 Both in the preparatory and perfect states they are 

 found upon various plants, the juices of which furnish 

 them with sustenance. 



Of the first tribe of this division, which includes an 

 immense number of exotic species, some of them of 

 very large size, we have only a single British repre- 

 sentative ; this is the Cicada haematodes, an insect of 

 great rarity in Britain, being found only in the New 

 Forest, and even there it seems to be of very un- 



