No. 34-] HEMIPTERA OF CONNECTICUT: MEMBRACIDAE. 165 



believe that gregarious habit is largely dependent on the host 

 plant, the abundance of the species and the number of eggs in an 

 egg-mass. 



Membracids are usually most active during the warmest parts 

 of the day and on the warmest days of the year. The stimulus of 

 heat (or perhaps sunlight) seems to be important for the activities 

 of feeding, mating and oviposition. When at rest the insect gen- 

 erally chooses the underside of the first or second-year growth of 

 trees or the upright stem of herbaceous plants; if approached it 

 often moves around to the opposite side of the twig or stem and 

 makes no attempt to fly except as a last resort in escaping. 



Locomotion consists of three methods, walking, flying and jump- 

 ing, as mentioned in order of importance. On the whole, most 

 species are sluggish and move but little unless disturbed. Migra- 

 tion is extremely slow, either from plant to plant or from one 

 locality to another. Individuals almost invariably return to the 

 same host from which they have been disturbed and it is a common 

 experience to find one tree or shrub crowded with individuals while 

 another host of the identical species is unmolested a few rods 

 away. The insects fly well for short distances only (the record 

 flight as measured by the writer was fifty yards for a female of 

 Telamona unicolor) with a sharp, whirring, erratic flight which is 

 hard to follow with the eye. It seems reasonable to believe that 

 the size, weight and shape of the over-developed pronotum of most 

 species is responsible for their poor performances in the air. In 

 the matter of jumping, also, the membracids fail to live up to their 

 common name of *'tree-hoppers," since their exhibitions of leaping 

 are not at all spectacular or impressive. The insect leaves the 

 support with a quick snap which is doubtless of value in escaping 

 enemies but which carries it only a short distance and is in fact 

 only a "take-off" for flight. There is no true leaping or hopping 

 from twig to twig or from leaf to leaf. 



In feeding, the insects show no peculiarities, little energy is 

 displayed in the feeding movements, and the process is a leisurely 

 one. The beak is well fitted for piercing the tender leaves and 

 petioles and is often buried so deeply in the tissue of the plant 

 that it is broken off when the specimen is suddenly captured. 



A large number of species are attended by ants, the latter insects 

 collecting the so-called "honey-dew" excreted from the anus of 

 both nymphal and adult forms of Membracidae. It has been 

 shown that this fluid is simply an intestinal waste, not secreted by 

 special glands, but perhaps containing sugars in solution. The 

 ants are very attentive to their charges while collecting this fluid, 

 constantly stroking the membracids with their antennae and 

 attacking without hesitation any intruder — even the fingers of the 

 collector — which threatens to disturb the process. It is interesting 

 to note that certain species (e.g., Enchenopa binotata) are appar- 

 ently never attended by ants although both nymphs and adults of 



