ORDER RHYNCHOTA (HEMIPTERA) : BUGS 211 



Rhynchota Homoptera. 



This suborder, though it comprises a number of the worst 

 pests of agriculture, is of no particular interest to the medical 

 officer. It includes the Cicadas {CicadidcB) ; the often 

 brilliant-coloured and long-snouted, or bottle-nosed Lantern- 

 flies {Fulgoridce) ; the Frog-hoppers, or Spittle-insects {Cer- 

 copidd), the larvse of some of which live embedded in froth 

 (frog-spit or cuckoo-spit) ; the Leaf-hoppers {Jassidcs), which 

 resemble slender frog-hoppers ; the grotesque, goblin-like 

 Tree-hoppers {Membracidce), with their large, sharply angu- 

 lated, elevated, often cap-like pronotum ; the Jumping Plant- 

 lice {Psyllidce), which resemble tiny cicadas ; the Plant-lice, 

 or "Blight" {Aphidce); and the Scale -insects, or Bark-lice 

 {Coccidce). 



The males of the scale-insects have only one pair of wings, 

 the hind pair being represented by stalked booklets some- 

 what resembling the halteres of Diptera ; but they can be 

 distinguished from any midge by their long caudal filaments, 

 and entirely different (vestigial) mouth-parts. 



Many lantern-flies and some aphids secrete wax, which is 

 utilised in some countries ; some aphids and coccids make 

 plant-galls ; manna is the secretion of a coccid ; lac and lac- 

 dye are products of an Indian coccid ; the well-known 

 cochineal is obtained from a coccid which originally came 

 from Tropical America, but has been naturalised elsewhere 

 by man. 



Order Thysanoptera : Thrips 

 (Gr. diaavoi — di. tassel, or fringe, and ■"T^piv = ^'vs\g). 



The minute insects known as Thrijis (Opltj/ = a wood - worm) are 

 usually found on plants, very commonly in the flowers ; some of them 

 form galls. They are active, squirming little creatures, usually with four 

 long, very narrow, almost feather-like wings, though some species are 

 wingless. The mouth-parts consist of piercing mandibles ensheathed in 

 a sort of beak formed by the labrum, maxillae, and labium ; with these 

 they suck the juices of plants, and some of them do much damage to 

 grass, garden-crops, and orchards. From the medical point of view these 

 tiny insects are not, so far as is known, of any importance. They are 

 placed here for convenience, merely because they have sometimes been 

 associated with the Hemiptera. 



