242 NATURAL HISTORY OF ARTHROPODS. 



wing-covers. JEurymela fenestrata is black, somewhat bronzed, with the base of the 

 wing-covers oi'ange, and two white spots upon each of them. The abdomen and under- 

 side of the body are orange, the latter tipped with black, while the bases of the femora 

 are bright orange. It measures half an inch to the tip of closed wing-covers. This 

 species and most of its congeners inhabit Australia ; but a few others are natives of Van 

 Diemen's Land. About twenty species have thus far been discovei-ed, all of which 

 have been brought from one or both of the countries mentioned. 



In the next sub-family, the Cercopida, we find moderately large forms, which take 

 the highest rank within the limits of the family. The face in these always foi-ms a 

 distinct vertical ridge ; they are generally oval or ovate in form, and often have the 

 upper surface smooth and highly polished, as is seen in many beetles. An extraordi- 

 nary variety of ornamentation prevails in the colors and pattern of marking ujion the 

 upper surface, giving them a very gay and attractive appearance. 



Possibly the largest and most conspicuous species of this group is the Toniaspis 

 f areata. Its body is blue-black, with the face, prothorax, base and tip of the wing- 

 covers, and underside of the fore-femora, coral red. The remainder of the wing-covers 

 is orange, ornamented with a long, forked, black streak near the base, arid two mar- 

 ginal black spots near the tip, connected by a band which follows the curve of the 

 apical margin. The deep black scutellum is indented, and forms a strong contrast 

 with the bright red of the adjoining surface. Large specimens measure nearly two 

 inches from tip to tip of the expanded wing-covers ; but small ones scarcely exceed an 

 inch and a half in the same direction. This beautiful species lives in the tropics of 

 Brazil, and is very widely distributed, being found from the Amazon basin all the way 

 to Rio, and over a large part of that empire from east to west. 



The showy Cercopis bivittata, a black, shining species, with metallic green wing- 

 covers crossed by two yellow bands, is figured on the left side of our plate. These 

 insects abound in the tropics of both hemispheres, where multitudes of the largest and 

 most showy appear in numerous species. 



Tomaspis is a closely related genus represented in the United States by T. bicincta. 

 It belongs to a small assemblage of banded species which occur also in Mexico, the 

 West Indies, and Central America, but which have the largest and most showy 

 representative in the T. rubra of Brazil. Our species is a dark brown insect, having 

 the under-side of the body, the head, front and side margins of the prothorax, the legs, 

 hind margin of scutellum, and base of wing-covers red, the latter with two narrow bands 

 of orange, one before the middle, the other behind it ; besides these there is a band of 

 the same color across the middle of the prothorax. Usually there are two black spots 

 upon the head, and four rows of others on the venter. It is one-third of an inch in 

 length, and measures three-fourths of an inch across the spread wing-covers. This 

 insect is a most active leaper, appearing adult in the Middle States from the latter 

 part of June until the end of warm weather. Specimens are usually taken singly by 

 beating blackberry bushes, black alders, and some other low shrubs in low grounds. 

 A variety (described by Dr. Fitch as Monecphora ignipecta) lacks the yellow and more 

 or less of the red marking of the upper surface. Corresponding varieties also belong 

 to other similar species inhabiting Mexico, to one or two others in Central America, 

 and to still another species in Cuba. The posterior band of the wing-covers sometimes 

 becomes wider, or is interrupted, or in some Texan specimens is changed to red. 



Europe possesses six nominal species of a division of the old genus Cercopis called 

 Triecphora. These are all shining, blue-black insects with brilliant red spots and 



