lOO SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 89 



poorly preserved for reliable dissection, seem to show the same struc- 

 ture as described by Myers for Carineta. 



The ovipositor. — The ovipositor of the Cicadidae does not differ in 

 any essential respect from that of other Hemiptera. The shaft of the 

 organ is formed by the first and second valvulae (fig. 31 B, iVl, 

 2VI) supported at their bases by the first and second valvifers (iVlf, 

 2Vlf) ; the third valvulae {s'Vl) are free distal lobes of the second 

 valvifers. The second valvulae are solidly fused with each other 

 (D, 2VI) except at their tips, and the first valvulae {iV.l) slide 

 freely on ridges of the united second valvulae. The lower edges of 

 the second valvulae are locked together by a fold on one that grasps 

 a ridge on the other, and the egg passage (r) of the ovipositor thus 

 becomes a closed channel. Since the cicadas deposit their eggs in the 

 twigs of trees, the ovipositor is strong and is provided with power- 

 ful muscles. 



The first valvifer lies at the base of the ovipositor (fig. 31 A, 

 iVlf) where it is normally concealed by the overlapping lateral part 

 of the seventh sternum (VllStn, pulled forward in the figure). 

 When the seventh sternum is removed, the first valvifer is seen to be 

 a small irregularly oval or triangular plate (B, iVlf) bearing the 

 first valvula (iVl). The middle of its dorsal margin is produced into 

 a short wide apodemal plate (fig. 33 A, e) for the attachment of 

 muscles. Its somewhat elongate posterior end (a) overlaps the an- 

 terior part of the second valvifer, and is movably attached to the 

 lower anterior angle of the ninth tergum (fig. 31 A). The first val- 

 vifer is separated from the eighth tergum (VIIIT) by a much wider 

 space in the cicada than it is in Amblydisca (fig. 28 B), or particu- 

 larly in Pentacora (fig. 26 B), owing apparently to a desclerotization 

 of the paratergal region of the dorsum, which in the cicada is repre- 

 sented by the membranous area containing the eighth spiracle 

 (VmSp). The intersegmental membrane between the seventh and 

 eighth segments is continued ventrally on the side anterior to the first 

 valvifer, past the genital opening (a), to the subgenital fold formed 

 by the eighth sternum (VlllStn). 



The broad base of the first valvula (fig. 33 A) is not differentiated 

 into distinct outer and inner rami, as in the Cicadellidae, but it has the 

 same proximal connections. Its outer wall (B, showing a mesal 

 view) has a membranous union with the lower edge of the first 

 valvifer (iVlf), but it is articulated with the anterior angle of the 

 valvifer (c) and is movable on the valvifer at this point. The dorsal 

 wall of the valvula, corresponding with the inner ramus in Pentacora 

 and Amblydisca, is produced upward and expanded in a small tri- 



