RURALIDES. 301 



Scudder gives the following diagnosis of the superfamily (Butts, of 

 New England, ii., pp. 767-768) : — 



Imago. — Of small size. Head rather small ; front always higher than broad, 

 usually half as high again as broad ; vertex separated, sometimes partly, sometimes 

 wholly, from occiput by a transverse sulcation ; the eyes neither prominent nor 

 projecting beyond the general contour of the head. Tongue inserted below the 

 middle of the lower half of the eye ; papillae of tongue very long and slender 

 polyhedral, equal, the angles terminating at the truncate or hollowed tip in acicular 

 points, the central process exceedingly slender, blunt tipped ; they are attached 

 close to the outer edge of the tongue, confined to the apical tenth or thereabouts, 

 and are always separated from each other by at least half their own length. 

 Antennae inserted in distinct pits, so far at the side as to infringe upon the eyes, 

 the middle in direct continuation with the sides of the front ; the club straight. 

 Labial palpi very slender, cylindrical, of nearly uniform diameter. Prothoracic 

 lobes reduced to a mere lamina. Thorax moderately slender, not much compressed, 

 the upper surface moderately arched, sometimes a little less so above ; mesoscutellum 

 pretty large, lozenge-shaped, forming about a right-angle between the halves of the 

 mesoscutum into which it does not greatly project, the suture between the two 

 slight, the two pieces together forming posteriorly a reversed blunt cone ; meta- 

 thorax only slightly separated from the mesothorax. Wings almost always broad 

 aud short, the forewings almost invariably simple, the hindwings frequently with 

 thread-like tails. Forewings : costal nervure terminating at from a little less 

 than half to about two-thirds the distance from the base to the apex of the costal 

 margin ; subcostal nervure with two or three superior, and one inferior, branches ; 

 all simple, excepting the last superior, which is frequently forked ; at least one of 

 the superior branches is emitted before the tip of the cell, and the third, when 

 present, beyond ; the inferior nervule, united to the nervure by a very slender vein ; 

 the nervure itself terminates below the apex of the wing ; cell closed by a slender 

 vein, sometimes almost obsolete ; median nervure with three branches, itself not 

 reaching the border ; internal nervure short, running into the submedian nervure 

 close to the base. Hindwings : costal nervure terminating at or near the middle of 

 the apex of the costal margin, sometimes emitting upward from near the base, a 

 curved precostal shoot ; subcostal nervure with three branches, itself not reaching 

 the border, the third nervule connected at its base by an exceedingly slender vein, 

 such as closes the cell ; median nervure with three branches, itself not reaching the 

 border ; submedian nervure terminating at or just without the anal angle ; internal 

 nervure terminating generally near the middle of the lower margin. Forelegs of 

 the female like the other legs, although with less profuse armature and with naked 

 tibial spines ; of the male shorter, and either the armature and joints as in the 

 female, excepting on the last joint, where all the apical armature is wanting, and, in 

 their place, generally a single, triangular, slightly curving, median hook ; or the tarsi 

 are one-jointed, and entirely devoid of armature. Genital organs : Eighth dorsal segment 

 of male abdomen entire on posterior margin, the upper organ mesially cleft, and the 

 sides variously developed, but usually much expanded, with a pair of slender, 

 tapering, elbowed or strongly arcuate arms attached to the base, and with no 

 median hook ; clasps forming slender and elongated or else tapering blades, some- 

 times bristled at the tip, the intromittent organ long and slender, often to an 

 excessive degree. 



Ovum. — Tiarate or oblate spheroidal in shape, more or less deeply and densely 

 reticulate, the angles of the reticulations often filamentous or spiny, the micropyle 

 frequently sunken in an abrupt pit. 



Larva (newly-hatched). — Head generally smaller, never larger than the succeed- 

 ing segments, smooth, generally with few hairs on the lower half, and none on the 

 upper, the posterior margin encroached on by the softer integument behind, so as not 

 to extend behind the summit of the head in a downward curve. Body cylindrical or 

 subcylindrical , generally largest anteriorly, and tapering from the very front back- 

 ward, furnished with long, longitudinally ranged, tapering, spiculiferous, cuticular 

 appendages, sometimes as long as the body, and with a larger or smaller number of 

 longitudinally ranged, larger or smaller, chitinous annuli or smooth lenticular 

 elevations. First and last body segments, and sometimes others, with a corneous 

 dorsal shield. Larva (adult). — Head smaller, generally much smaller, than the body, 

 oblique, the mouth being thrust forward, with only few hairs on minute papillae, 

 without tubercles or spines, with scarcely any or no posterior contractions of the 



