LANTERN FLIES. 



599 



Fig. 90. — Mdo.m'psdXta moniana Nat. size. 



the Malay Islands, measures nearly eight inches in expanse. Several species 

 are found in Southern Europe, and their song was greatly admired by the 

 Greeks. In Northern Europe they are scarce, and we have but one small 

 species in England, which is very far from common, and is almost confined 

 to the New Forest, though it has once been met with near Haslemere. This 

 species is Melampsalta montana 

 (Scop.), and measures rather less 

 than two inches in expanse. It is 

 brown, with reddish markings on 

 the thorax ; and the principal 

 wing nervures towards the base, 

 and the incisions of the abdomen 

 are of the same colour. It belongs 

 to a very extensive genus of rather 

 small species, in which the basal 

 cell of the tegmina is long and 

 narrow, and emits (me bifurcating 



longitudinal nervure from its extremity, instead of two separate ones. This 

 genus is represented by numerous, but usually comparatively small, species, in 

 most parts of the world, and is especially numerous in Australia ; and it is at 

 present the only genus of CicadidcB which is known to occur in New Zealand. 

 The Gicadidce vary from the general character of the Homoptera in the 

 tegmina and wings being of uniform consistency, though the tegmina are 

 always larger, and have a more elaborate neuration. They are insects with 

 imperfect metamorphoses, and in countries where they are common, the 

 empty pupa-skin may often be seen attached to trees by its strong claws, 

 with a large hole in the back, through which the insect has emerged. 



The FulgoridcE are an extensive and varied family, difiering from the 

 Cicadidce in many particulars. There are only two ocelli, instead of three ; 

 the tegmina and wings are opaque, and generally differ con- 

 siderably in consistency ; the antennae are inserted on the 

 aides of the head and below the eyes ; and the larvae, and in 

 many cases the perfect insects, are frequently covered with 

 a white waxy exudation, which we seldom observe in the 

 Cicadida, and then only to a trifling extent. This family is divided into 

 several sub-families, of which we will mention some of the most interesting. 



The Fulgorina;, or true lantern and candle-flies, are exotic insects of rather 

 large size, and are remarkable for having the front of the head produced into a 

 long horn or excrescence, differing considerably in size and shape. The largest 

 species is the lantern-fly of South America, Fulgora laternaria (Linu.), which 

 often measures more than four inches in expanse. It is of a greenish-yellow 

 colour, with a. large eyelike spot on the hind-wings ; the head is produced 



into a great hollowappendage, 

 slightly bent downwards, and 

 then continued forward. The 

 candle-flies of the Eastlndies, 

 Hotinus candelarius (Linn., 

 etc.), are also large insects, 

 ' measuring two or three inches 

 in expanse. In the species we 

 have mentioned, the tegmina 

 are black and green, spotted 



Family 

 Fulgoridce. — 

 Lantern Files. 



Fig. 91.— Candle-I'i-y (Hotinus candelarius). Nat. size. 



