THE GICALIDM. 



Ill 



NCTONECTA GLAUCA. 



above and flat below ; the antennae are four-jointed ; the ocelli are wanting ; and the hinder tibia and 

 tarsi are much compressed and strongly fringed on both sides, rendering the insects very active 

 swimmers. The familiar name of " Water Boatmen " is often applied to the typical forms of this 

 family, in allusion to the appearance they present when resting and taking in air 

 at the surface of the water ; the long hinder legs are then thrown out nearly at 

 riyht angles to the body after the fashion of a waterman resting on his sculls 

 (see centre figui-e on p. 1 10). 



The British Notonecta glauca is an insect rather more than half an inch long, 

 of a yellowish colour above, with the scutellum black. As implied in its name, it 

 swims with its lower surface upwards, and is exceedingly expert in that exercise, 

 while it also flies very well by means of a pair of most beautiful filmy wings 

 which are folded up beneath the roof-like hemelytra. It is a most predaceous 

 insect, and can bite severely. 



Still commoner than the above are the species of the genus Corixa, the 

 largest British representative of which (Corixa geoffroyi) is neai'ly half an inch long. These insects, 

 which are flatter on the upper surface than the true Notonectce, are to be met with in nearly every 

 piece of stagnant water. They swim witli their backs upwards, and are not so powerful and active 

 as 3". glfiuca. 



SUB-ORDER II. HOMOPTERA. 



As already pointed out, the most striking general character of this group consists in. the uniform 

 texture of the fore wings, which never show the clear division into corium and membrane exhibited 

 by the great majority of the Bugs. The wings also do not, except in a few instances, cross each 

 other at the tip, and in by far the greater number they are placed slantingly on the sides of the body* 

 so as to make a roof-like covering. Where the wing characters are obscure the position of the origin 

 of the rostrum will at once determine to which division an insect belongs. In all the Homoptera 

 this organ springs from the hinder part of the lower surface of the head close to the sternum 

 (see figure on p. 102), or even in some cases apparently from the sternum itself. These insects all 

 feed upon vegetable juices. 



FAMILY XIII. CICADIDJE. 



The insects forming this family, which have always been placed at the head of the Homoptera, 

 are of moderate or large size and robust conformation, and may be a. once distinguished from all the 

 rest by the possession of three very distinct ocelli upon the crown of the head. The head itself is 

 generally broad, short, and vertical, and terminated below by a rather long rostrum composed of three 

 joints. The forehead is considerably inflated, and marked with fine transverse furrows ; the 

 eyes are prominent ; the short antennae originate close to the eyes, and are of seven joints, which 

 gradually diminish in thickness so that the organ is like a bristle ; the scutellum is large, inflated, 

 and notched behind ; and the fore wings are much larger than the posterior pair, and generally show 

 only a moderate number of very definitely arranged veins. 



Of the four or five hundred known species of this family, by far the greater number inhabit 

 tropical countries, and it is in such regions that the species attain the greatest size. Thus, Tacua 



speciosa (Plate 63, A), a magnificent black species, with 

 a broad yellow band across the hinder margin, and part of the 

 anterior margin of the same colour, is a native of Java and the 

 neighbouring islands. The females often measure over three 

 inches in length when the wings are closed, and species of 

 equal, or nearly equal, dimensions are met with throughout 

 the tropical parts of the world. A large black species with 

 transparent wings (Fidicina atrata) is common in Chinese 



boxes, which also contain a rather smaller form, black with yellow spots (Gceana maculata), and a 

 still smaller black species with the forehead, two large spots on the mesothorax, and the abdomen 

 blood red (Huecliys sanguined}. On the continent of Europe about eighteen species are recognised, 

 and one of the smallest of these (Cicada Iwemaiodes) occurs in the south of England, in the New 

 For Q st, where, however it seems to be rare. 



LARVA AND PUPA OF CICADA. 



