15 



From the base of each coxa of the second and posterior pairs there 

 proceeds a large flexible spine. 



The upper wings (fig. 8) are coriaceous, lanceolate and sharply 

 pointed, with the cells of inner side open, and not shut in by a long 

 marginal nervure as in the true Cicadce. The under wings (fig. 9) 

 are small, and furnished with very weak nervures. 



The colour of the whole upper surface of both sexes is of a pale 

 delicate green, with the exception of the posterior wings, which are 

 transparent, possessing, however, a slight greenish tinge. The costse 

 of the fore-wings are white, with a pinkish hue running along the 

 centre. The under portion of the base of the upper wing incUnes to 

 yellow, which colour extends round the thorax. The antennae are 

 black, and the eyes a bright, light reddish colour. In the preserved 

 specimens, the beautiful delicate green, which constitutes the general 

 colour, becomes duller and darker, and frequently assumes a hue of 

 sickly yellow. 



The drums of the male (fig. 10) are rounded, and marked by 

 seven transverse furrows, slightly tinged with brown, in the middle, 

 and diflFerent from those of the true Cicadte in being more con- 

 spicuous on a dorsal view of the insect. Besides, the abdomen is 

 deeply constricted immediately behind them, so that the first segment 

 appears as it were to form part of the metathorax, and the abdomen 

 seems merely composed of the seven last segments, which are here 

 exceedingly inflated, as in the orthopterous genus Pneutnora. 



The abdomen of the female is of a size and form more correspond- 

 ing to that of the female Cicadce, but it is of a more cylindrical form 

 and less angular at the sides. The dilated sides of the metasternum, 

 which form the two plates covering the under sides of the drums in 

 the male, are here comparatively small. 



These insects are extremely numerous on Ash Island, principally 

 inhabiting an orange grove of about 1200 trees, and we scarcely ever 

 remember seeing one beyond a few rods of the Umits of this garden, 

 nor have we ever heard of or discovered a single specimen elsewhere, 

 with the exception of the few brought by Sir Thomas Mitchell from 

 the interior. 



During the short twilight of this country, the male commences and 

 ends his song, which resembles a loud deep guttural, R, continued 

 incessantly, and with vibrations. So loud indeed is this sound, that 

 when near to several insects it becomes even painful to the ear. It 

 is, moreover, very unlike the shriller and harsher notes uttered by the 

 common Cicada. 



In this brief period after sunset the males and females occasionally 

 fly from tree to tree, their flight being slow and steady, particularly 

 that of the former. The only other time in which these insects are 

 heard is immediately, in hot and sultry weather, before a thunder- 

 storm, and then only at broken intervals. This habit was particularly 

 noticed on our placing the males on a bunch of flowers in the draw- 

 ing-room, where every evening they regaled us with their short-lived 

 song, and at other periods occasionally predicted the coming storm. 



The larvae live underground upon the roots of plants, and in their 



