HOMOPTERA. 



545 



Hotlnus maculatua. 



Paecllopten circulata. 

 Cicada floafolla. 



HOMOPTERA. 



IN the next order are comprised some very grotesque insects, some of which have 

 been thought to belong to other orders, and a few not being known to be insects at all 

 until comparatively late years. They have rounded bodies, not more than three joints 

 in the tarsi, and their wings are four in number, wholly membranous, the fore pair 

 being larger than the hinder, but not overlapping in repose. The mouth forms a kind 

 of tube, sometimes nearly as long as the body, and often sufficiently hard and stiff to 

 pierce the skin. 



In this curious order are placed the Aphides, those little green insects that swarm 

 upon roses and other plants, and are termed " blights " by gardeners, who employ that 

 term in a strangely wide sense ; the Cicadae, with their beautiful membranous wings, their 

 large heads, and their loud voices ; the tribe of Hoppers, of which the Cuckoo Spit 

 insect, known in its perfect state under the name of Frog-hopper, and the beautiful 

 Scarlet Hopper, are familiar British examples ; the wonderful Lantern-flies, also leapers, 

 which are found only in hot climates ; the Wax Insects of China ; and lastly, the 

 Scale Insects, or Coccidae, from which the " lac," so important in commerce, is ob- 

 tained. 



The Cicadae have three joints to their feet, these members affording useful character- 

 istics in settling the precise position of the various species. They are very large in- 

 sects, sometimes measuring more than six inches between the tips of the expanded 

 wings. Their mouth or beak is three-jointed and very long, being tucked under the 

 body when not required. The females are furnished with a curious apparatus, by 

 which they are enabled to cut grooves in the branches of trees for the purpose of de- 

 positing their eggs therein, and which is clearly analogous to the instrument pos- 

 sessed by the saw-flies. On the under side of the body, and nearly at the extremity, 

 are seen a pair of jointed valves, which form the scabbard to the boring instrument. 

 At first sight, the borer appears like a spear-head deeply notched along both edges ; 

 but on a closer examination it is seen that this apparently single instrument is com- 

 posed of three pieces, namely, two saw-edged blades, set back to back, and a central 

 support in which they both slide. There seems little doubt that these instruments 

 work alternately, like the saws of the tenthredo. 

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