868 OK THE INSECTS OF THE " SKEA.T EXPEDITION." [Dec. 4, 



the insect might be by its legs), it is obvious that the whole 

 structure would fly off iuto the air at a taugenfc ; only supposing 

 that the pressure was slightly oblique at any point. I have 

 no doubt that this is substantially what occurs in the case of. 

 Hotinus ; but in the living insect the action is far too rapid for 

 the eye to discriminate its details, and dead specimens cannot be 

 made to leap in this way, because it is impossible to force the legs 

 to perform their part of the action. In two specimens of Hotinus, 

 which I observed on tree-trunks at Aring, the wings were spread 

 after the insects had leapt into the air, but not immediately they 

 left their perch. Both of them distinctly bent down their heads 

 before they jumped. 



The nose is perfectly hollow, and does nob appear to contain 

 any muscle. It differs, of course, from the whalebone in respect 

 of its hollowness, and also in that it is only flexible at one point. 

 In specimens preserved in spirit it is largely filled with liquid, but 

 contains a bubble of air, which naturally rises to the tip when the 

 apparatus is in its resting position, and runs towards its base 

 when the head is lowered. 



When I had made the discovery in my first specimen of Hotinus, 

 I examined some Fulgorid larva?, almost certainly those of Pyrops 

 nobilis, which had been brought to me by a native at Ban Sai Kau 

 in Nawnchik, and which I had preserved in spirit. The nose was 

 well developed in these, although the abdomen was still small and 

 unexpanded and the wings as yet mere stumps. I found that the 

 joint was present in these specimens also, and still retained a 

 certain amount of springiness, though they had been dead for a 

 month. 



Since coming home, I have been enabled, by the kindness of 

 Professor Poultou, to examine dried specimens of twenty-six 

 species of long-nosed Fulgoridse, belonging to nine genera. In 

 individuals of sixteen of these species 1 am able to distinguish 

 a crease running across the nose in exactly the same position as 

 it does in my specimen of Hotinus. All of the remaining ten 

 species in the Hope Collection, of which species Pyrop>s nobilis is 

 one, have either comparatively short, spiny, or otherwise peculiar 

 noses. I have no doubt that the joint would be found in 

 them also, were fresh specimens examined ; even in my larvae, 

 in which it is still flexible, there is no external sign of its exist- 

 ence except a slight translucency of the integument. The members 

 of the bulbous-nosed American genus Fulr/ora probably use their 

 heads in the same manner as the less highly modified Oriental 

 forms. There is a deep hollow across the noses of the former 

 which seems to correspond to the crease in that of Hotinus ; and I 

 have satisfied myself at any rate that a certain very limited 

 flexibility exists at this point even in dried specimens. What 

 is wanted is a series of instantaneous photographs from life. 



Malay Name. — At Biserat Hotinus spinolce goes by the name 

 of " Raja Legeli" but this is probably a corruption of some more 

 direct appellation, 



