HEMIPTERA. 115 
from my fright, I caught all my insects again, and admired this 
singular property of theirs.” 
Since the time when Mlle. de Mérian visited Guyana, different 
travellers have said that they could not observe, as she did, this 
phosphorescent phenomenon. It is, then, probable that this 
property only exists in the male or female insect, and then only 
at certain seasons. 
What a marvellous spectacle must the rich valleys of Guyana 
present, when, in the stillness of the night, the air is filled with 
living torches ; when the Fulgore flying about in space, the flashes 
of fire cross each other, go out and blaze up again, shine brightly 
and then die out, and present, on a calm evening, the appearance 
of those lightning flashes which are usually seen only in the 
midst of a tempest ! 
Let us now go on to another interesting insect of the order of 
which we are treating, the Aphrophora, without being frightened 
by its disagreeable name, for there are many other names we may 
give it if we choose, among those by which it is popularly known. 
In the months of June and July, one sees on nearly every tree, 
and on plants of the most different kinds, a sort of white froth, 
composed of air bubbles, deposited on the leaves’ and branches. 
It is produced by an insect which the peasants in France call 
Crachat de Coucou, or Ecume printaniére (spring froth), and which 
is called in England, Cuckoo’s spittle. De Geer carefully studied 
the metamorphoses of this insect. The Aphrophora (from é¢p0s, 
foam, and ¢épo, I bear or carry) is lodged in the froth of which 
we have just been speaking. It lives in it, only leaving it when 
it has its wings. De Geer wondered why this insect confines 
itself during the whole of its life in liquid, and concludes that 
the froth has the effect of protecting the insect from the burning 
heat of the sun. This covering seems also to protect it from 
the attacks of carnivorous insects and spiders. On the other hand, 
its skin is without doubt so constituted that it would perspire too 
freely if it were exposed to the air, and the insect would very 
soon die dried up. Whatever explanation may be given of the 
necessity for this semi-aérial, semi-liquid medium, it is easy to 
verify the fact that the larva of the Aphrophora cannot live long 
out of its frothy envelope. If withdrawn from it, the volume of 
12 
