248 NATURAL HISTORY OF ARTHROPODS. 



low color, such as is seen in Dorycephalus. Xerophlcea is another allied genus, which 

 is marked in the United States by the pale green, roughly punctate, angular-headed, 

 and coarse-veined X. peltata. It is a broader form than either of the preceding, about 

 as long as P. viridis, and is distributed from Massachusetts to Rio de Janeiro, 

 Brazil. 



Omitting all the minor groups which enter the family at this place, and which 

 include hosts of genera and attractive species in all the temperate and Avarm regions, 

 we reach the largest and most heterogeneous part of the group, formerly included in 

 the inadequately defined genus Tettigonia. This overloaded genus has recently been 

 divided into numerous others ; but our space will admit the mention of only a very 

 few of our American types. 



A very beautiful representative of this group is figured on the plate at the head of 

 this article. It is the Aulacizes qnadripunctata. Its head, thorax, and under-side of 

 the body are blood red, while the wing-covers, dorsal surface of the abdomen, middle 

 of the venter and breast, hind margin of the prothorax and a spot near the front mar- 

 gin, three spots on the vertex and two on the face are purplish black. It is a native 

 of Brazil, and is rather common on low plants in the vicinity of Petropolis. 



The genus Aulacizes has a bluntly conical head, with a wide gutter along the mid- 

 dle line next the tip of the vertex. A. guttata is a fine example of this genus inhab- 

 iting the United States. Its upper surface is made rough by coarse punc- 

 tures and wrinkles, on a dark brown ground flecked with yellow, while 

 large marks on the costal margm of the wing-covers are of a brighter yel- 

 low. A very decided polish renders the clear carmine of the dorsal surface 

 of the abdomen very vivid, and this is brought into exquisite relief by the 

 translucent brown color of the wings. The underside is ivory yellow, red 

 at tip, has black specks upon the face and breast, and a blackish area upon 

 the venter which is interrupted by six or eight orange spots arranged in 

 iuc^^^qiutata P^ii'^- I* measures nearly half an inch in length. Specimens occur singly 

 upon low plants in damp situations near woods, during late summer and 

 early autumn. It is distributed from Long Island to southern Florida, and is more 

 common in the south than farther north. 



Rhaphirhiiius comes next, and is remarkable for the sword-like projection stretch- 

 ing out from the tip of the head. li. fasciatus is a beautiful purplish-brown insect, 

 which has the wing-covers crossed by four more or less oblique, or broken, orange- 

 yellow bands ; and with another of the same color on the prothorax, and two sjjots on 

 the base of the vertex. It measures three-fourths of an inch from the tip of the sword 

 to the end of the body. This is a Brazilian species, which ajspears common in various 

 parts of the Amazonian basin, \x\)on plants and bushes in low grounds. 



Ciccus pervirgatus is in appearance almost a rejietition of the foregoing. It lives 

 in the same country, but lacks the sword at the end of the head. 



Proconia has numerous conspicuous sjiecies in Central and South America, and 

 the genus is indicated in North America by five or six types of the common jjattern. 

 It differs from the preceding genus chiefly in having a more blunt head, wider across 

 the eyes than the thorax, and in having no gutter on the front of the vertex. 



One of these, P. undata, is common in the United States, is distributed from Mas- 

 sachusetts to southern Florida, and west to Texas. Its body, head, fore part of thorax, 

 scutellum, and legs are bright yellow, with circular or curved lines of black on the 

 head, thorax and scutellum. The under-side of the abdomen is banded, and the breast 



