No. 34-] HEMIPTERA OF CONNECTICUT: CERCOPIDAE. 207 



The extreme variability and striking similarities in coloration 

 shown by some species oftentimes renders exact identification 

 difficult. Coupled with this fact, the literature with which to 

 identify them is insufficient and at the same time inaccessible to 

 the average student of Entomology. Papers by Dr. F. W. 

 Coding (1892), Dr. E. D. Ball (1895 and 1898), and Prof. Z. P. 

 Metcalf (191 7) include the more recent and important work that 

 has been completed with this interesting group of insects. The 

 comprehensive studies of the family by Dr. Ball are quite adequate, 

 but unfortunately they occur in isolated volumes of the Proceed- 

 ings of the Iowa Academy of Science which are not usually at the 

 disposal of the student. 



It was the original intention of the writer to cover the family 

 Cercopidae for New England localities only, since he had had the 

 opportunity to collect a large series of specimens in that section 

 of the country. But from this preceding, brief summary con- 

 cerning the work on the group during comparatively recent years, 

 it is evident that another systematic paper, containing a descriptive 

 key with accompanying explanatory figures, together with as 

 extensive distribution records as possible, would be of unquestion- 

 able value at the present time, and it is hoped that it will be of 

 assistance to students in systematic work. 



The family Cercopidae has been various^ ranked in different 

 classificatory systems. Without a doubt, however, its exact posi- 

 tion among the most specialized of the Auchenorhynchous 

 Homoptera was expressed, when Professor Herbert Osborn 

 (1895) stated that ''the Cercopidae in the development of the 

 scutellum, the texture of the elytra, and the specialization of the 

 tibiae show characters of high rank, and if placed subordinate to 

 the Jassoidea (Cicadellidae) must be considered a branch of 

 nearly equal or parallel rank." 



The name of *'cuckoo-spit" applied to these forms in Europe 

 dates from classic times w^hen it was believed that the insects were 

 bom from the saliva of cuckoos. The production of froth, a 

 common occurrence in Homopterous families, is particularly 

 noticeable in this family. This frothy matter or "spittle" is 

 formed by liberating air beneath a liquid film excreted from the 

 anal opening, of the sap imbibed by the insects in large quantities. 

 In reality, it is a protective device for the nymphal forms. 



Economically, the "Cercopids," together with other closely allied 

 Homopterous families, are of considerable importance. Usually 

 these forms do not occur in sufficient numbers to become noticeably 

 destructive, but in some instances their depredations are extensive. 

 Generally speaking, their food plants are the pine, alder, blueberry, 

 cranberry, dogwood and different species of grasses. *Tt is not 

 alone the exhaustion consequent upon the rapid draining of the 



