No. VII.— RHYNCHOTA. PART II: SUBORDER HOMOPTERA. 



By Wm. Lucas Distant. 

 (Communicated by J. Stanley Gardiner, MA., F.R.S., F.L.S.) 



(With Plates 49—51.) 



Read 1st .June, 1916. 



In my previous communication (1913) devoted to the Heteroptera, I was able 

 to enumerate 139 species; in this Homopterous section 98 species are detailed, bringing 

 up the number of the Seychelles Rhynchota to 237 species. These may again be 

 augmented by referring to the first collection made by Prof. Gardinet and detailed 

 in these Transactions (1909) in which 3 species of Heteroptera and 3 species of 

 Homoptera were included which are not contained in the present collection; and these 

 bring up the total number of species brought home by the two expeditions to 

 243 species. A few others (Heteroptera) have been enumerated and described by 

 Reuter and Bergroth which have not been found by either Prof Gardiner or Mr Scott ; 

 a reference to these papers will be found in the Bibliography further on. 



The Homoptera, especially the smaller forms, are now being assiduously worked 

 by such good Homopterists as Melichar, Matsumura and Muir, but even with these 

 advantages the material from many large areas is so scanty that little comparison 

 in distributional aspects is possible. Of the 98 species of Homoptera contained in 

 this collection no fewer than 82 have been regarded as undescribed and have com- 

 pelled the erection of 26 new genera to contain them. It would consequently be 

 futile to consider that all or a very considerable portion of these new species are 

 peculiar to the Seychelles, and it is even more improbable that the new genera should 

 be confined to these islands. 



With the Homoptera however a few distributional peculiarities cannot be ignored. 

 The large family Cicadidse is only represented by two species, one of which is also 

 found in, and was described from, Madagascar. The Hawaiian fauna is reported as 

 without a representative. The family Fulgoridae is poorly represented; neither the 

 subfamilies Fulgorinse nor Eurybrachydinse are represented in these collections, and 

 the Dictyophorina3, Tropiduchinse and Achilinas are each represented by one genus 

 and one species only. Not a single Membracid was found, and the Membracidse 

 appear to be equally absent from the Hawaiian Archipelago. The family Cercopidse 

 is only represented by one species and that belonging to the subfamily Aphrophorinse. 

 SECOND SERIES— ZOOLOGY, VOL. XVII. 33 



