2 HOMOPTERA 



Characters. — The general characters of the Cicadidae maj be described as follow I ! 

 three in number and placed on the disk of vertex of head; antennas short, inserted close to eyes 



and composed of seven joints (this includes the two joints of the peduncle or basal joint), the 

 flagellum consists of five joints, and. according to Hansen, on the underside of the first and — 

 joints there is a very large number of sensory organs, and on the las) three joints he has found a few of 

 the smaller examples of these organs; head short, broad, and transverse, terminating beneath in an 

 elongated rostrum composed of three joints; thorax large, pronotum short and transverse, with two 

 oblique discal incisures or furows on each side, mesonotum (by some writers referred to as scutellUm) 

 very large and terminating posteriorly in a small basal cruciform elevation (which has sometimes been 

 referred to as the metathoracie cross); abdomen consisting of six segments and an anal appendagi ; 

 anterior femora incrassated and nearly always more or less spinose beneath; tegmina and wings 

 usually hyaline, sometimes opaque, their venation distinct and usually furcate in ramification, but 

 occasionally reticulate. To these characters may be added those given by Hansen, viz. : no empodium; 

 second pan oi abdominal spiracles placed in a transverse ventral furrow, looking anteriorly and 

 medianly; third to seventh pairs placed in the sternites, not in the pleura. 



The Cicadidae possess a distinctive attribute in their loud stridulation, which is however confined 

 to the males. The sound given forth varies in intensity, but is scarcely to be represented as a musical 

 production; it has been differently described by travellers in various parts of the world as resembling a 

 railway-whistle, a knife-grinder, razor-grinder etc., while some field-naturalists maintain that the 

 noise is distributed with the power of a ventriloquist, that it is difficult to locate the insects by their 

 cries; my own experience, both in the Ethiopian and Oriental Regions scarcely confirms this conclu- 

 sion i). The structure and mechanism of the sound-producing apparatus have been studied and 

 described by a number of entomologists and other naturalists of whom we may mention the names of 

 Reamur, Goureau and Solier, Duges. Landois, Mayer. Carlet, and John C. Galton. Of these perhaps 

 Carlet has given us the best information, or at all events, the foundation on which others have worked. 

 The sound-producing apparatus is covered beneath by two flaps, which, as pointed out bv Westwood, 

 are. in fact, the dilated sides of the metasternum ; these have been sometimes incorrectly referred to as 

 « drums », but are really covering-flaps, or as they are usually called, and here alluded to, opercula. 

 These appendages in shape, length, and direction frequently supply the most reliable differentiation for 

 species, and in the Dundubiai ia exhibit the most striking variety. The real drums or tympana are 

 laterally situate near the upper surface of the base of the abdomen, and are either concealed by 

 tympanal coverings as in the Cicadinae, partially concealed as in the Gaeaninae, or completelv exposed 

 as in the Tibicininas. The females are provided with a strongly developed ovipositor, by which they are 

 enabled to pierce the branches of trees and there deposit their eggs, which in some cases amount to a 

 very large number. 



These insects are victims to many enemies and are apparently defenceless creatures. Among their 

 persecutors may be mentioned species of Mantis (Orthoptera). spiders, dragon-flies, hornets, wasps, 

 Asilida (Diptera), Chalcididse. and many birds; they have also been found to be devoured by Trout 

 (Pisces) both in Japan and New Zealand, and are used as food by some of the primitive races of man- 

 kind. In India a large number are devoured by a lizard (Calotcs versicolor). 



Their life-histories are still little known, and should prove to be of the most interesting 

 character. One Nearctic species, Tibicina sepiemdecim, in its immature condition lives beneath the surface 

 of the ground for a period of some seventeen years; another species. Psalmocharias qiuerula Pall, found 



i) I have dealt with this subject at greater lenght in the preface to my Monograph or Oriental Cica.fidtr and in my hisecta Tvansvaaliensia . 

 vol. i, pp. 168-170. 



