CONSPICUOUS INSECTS OF SUMMER-TIME 



259 



LAKV^ OF THE CINNABAR MOTH FEEDING ON RAGWORT. 



well-known instances. Also, larva 

 produce warning colours often feed 

 or less gregariously, as by this 

 means they present a greater 

 display of their warning features 

 to their enemies ; hence these 

 caterpillars feed boldly in the 

 sunlight, and look quite con- 

 spicuous objects amongst the 

 stems and flowers. 



Turning from the pretty side 

 of the insect life to the less 

 agreeable, we may glance at the 

 Cuckoo Spit — which I need 

 scarcely say has nothing what- 

 ever to do with the cuckoo. This 

 white, frothy mass, which is seen 

 deposited about trees and herbage 

 of all kinds, is purely the work 

 of an insect larva, viz. that of 

 the Frog - Hopper {Aphrophora 

 spumaria). The Frog-Hopper it- 

 self appears at the end of July, 

 and is a small insect about five- 

 six'teenths of an inch in lengtli, 

 and is possessed of great jumping 

 powers. In the corner of the 

 illustration on this page I have 

 shown the insect at twice its 

 natural size, with its wing-covers 

 partly opened ; for these insects 

 are good fliers as well as jumpers. 

 The larva feeds in the mass of 



that covers bearing large 

 more beneath these a pair 



froth produced 

 from the juices of 

 the plant, its long 

 beak being plunged 

 into the plant tis- 

 sues. During the 

 larval stages the 

 insect has no wings, 

 although it resem- 

 bles in shape the 

 fully-developed in- 

 sect. In the pupa 

 stage the wings are 

 rudimentary. Fi- 

 nally, it loses its 

 green colour, and 

 develops into a 

 curious insect some- 

 what like a minia- 

 ture frog in shape, 

 but possessing pale- 

 coloured, mem- 

 b r a n o u s w i n g- 

 brown spots, and 

 of ordinary flying 



•CUCKOO-SPIT." 

 At the top is shown the Froe-Hopper. which, in its early slafie. 

 produces the frothy substance, 

 its natural size. 



The insect is shown twice 



