JUNE. 175 



spots on the upper wings. The larvse of this insect is well 

 known as discharging a kind of frothy matter, called by coun- 

 try-people " cuckoo-spit," in the midst of which they gene- 

 rally live, and find in it a protection against their enemies : 

 perhaps also this moisture may defend them from the sultry 

 beams of the sun. Some of the family possess the power of 

 making a chirping sound, which has been celebrated by many 

 poets ; and in reference to its being produced only by the 

 males, an old Ehodian bard says, 



" Happy the Cicada lives, 

 Since they all have voiceless wives." 



DIPTEBA. (ESTRID.E. 

 (ESTRUS. 



Generic Distinctions. Antennae very short ; proboscis and palpi 

 obsolete ; thorax smooth ; body in the female very long. 



(EsTRUS EQUI. Head yellowish-white; thorax yellow, 

 with elevated hairs on a bluish point ; the end of the body 

 is reddish, with two black spots ; the wings have a band in 

 the middle and two small black points at the extremity. 



These insects have the appearance of large Plies ; their 



