BUGS. 225 



either below or a little in advance of the eyes. The species are all good leapers, with 

 short stout legs armed with a circle of short spines on the tips of the hind-tibiae ; but in 

 the genus Membracis, and its next relatives, the two forward pairs of tibias are broadly 

 flattened, and fit very closely against the breast. Their head is of three patterns : the 

 first retains the quadrate, foliaceous form of the ordinary nymphs ; the second has the 

 head triangular and wrinkled ; and in the third it is short and transverse like a bandeau. 



Two figures on the plate, numbers 3 and 5, well illustrate the arched, compressed 

 type common to Brazil and Guiana. The former is jet black, 

 with a yellow front margin and triangular apical spot, and is 

 the Membracis tectigera ; while the latter is marked with bright 

 red, has a curved horn projecting forwards, and is the Eticho- 

 phyllum cruentatum of authors. But by far the largest of this 

 shape is Membracis foliata, which is smoke-brown, spotted with 

 yellow, and measures more than half an inch in length. This 

 genus is very rich in species, and includes some of the most ^"^- ^'^hf^f^^'"'"^'^ 

 gayly colored and beautifully decorated species of the family. 



Many of these insects affect the axils of twigs, and stems of various bushes or small 

 trees, especially near water-courses, and protect themselves by selecting places which 

 well agree with their pattern of marking. 



Here also belong the species which imitate bits of dried brown leaves, belonging to 

 the genus Stegaspis, all of which are of the dull brown color, have a ragged appear- 

 ance, and are often sinuated, as if a piece had been cut out of the back. 



Figure 1 of our plate shows the JIypsauchenia> balista, a dark brown insect, in 

 which the thorax is drawn out backwards into a slender curved arm, as if fitted for a 

 spring to throw missiles. Number 4 of the same gives two attitudes of the large and 

 remarkable two-horned Hemiptycha marginata, also a native of Brazil. It belongs to 

 the division with triangular head, to which most of our North American species must 

 be referred. 



The Archasia galeata is an apple-green, arched species, similar to the Membracids 

 from South America, but much thicker, and also having a triangular head. It is found 

 in midsummer on our native young oaks and hickories. 



A still more compressed form is the conspicuous Smilia camelus, Fab., which is 

 sometimes moderately common, in June and July, upon bushes and small oaks. This 

 is one of the gayest colored of our native species, has a rich brown ground color, 

 marked with two converging, oblique yellow bands, and a spot near the tip, with the 

 wing-covers transparent, but clouded with brown at the tip. 



To the genus Telamona belong our indigenous hump-back forms, of gray, claret, or 

 greenish colors, which live in June and July upon oaks, hickories, and other forest 

 trees. They generally rest singly on the limbs and branches of 

 the trees with the head directed away from the trunk, but in 

 the younger stages they keep together in small groups. Tela- 

 mona monticola sometimes swarms upon the branches of the 

 Virginia creeper during the month of June, and helps to de- 

 ^^°' ^^'ntimta™^"' stroy this vine by draining its sap, as well as by puncturing the 

 bark to deposit its eggs. 



Most of the young forms thus far observed are armed above with series of erect, 

 sharp, or forked spines, and the abdomen is terminated by a tube, from which a sweet- 

 ish substance is ejected, which is very attractive to various kinds of ants. 



VOL. II. — 15 



