FAM. LOCUSTID^E 



SUBFAM. PH Y LLOPH O R I N /E 



The Phvllophorinae is a small subfamily of Locustidse which has been sometimes classed with 

 the Mecopodinae. From that subfamily however it is amply distinct in the character of the posteriorly 

 produced pronotum, which here extends back over the base of the abdomen in the form of a hood 

 while in Mecopodinae it is not hood-like nor posteriorly produced. The pronotum of the species of this 

 interesting little group of katydids is always spinose, dentate or crenulate along the lateral margins. 



Besides the pronotal characters mentioned above this subfamily is characterized by having the 

 tarsi more or less depressed, the anterior tibiae provided with open linear or shell-shaped foramina, the 

 antennae inserted between the eyes, located further from the clypeal suture than from the top of the 

 head. The first and second tarsal segments are longitudinally sulcate laterally and the posterior tibiae 

 are provided with apical spines on both sides above. The presternum is armed with a pair of spines or 

 tubercles. The elytra of these insects are remarkable is so much as those of the male have no stridu- 

 lating tympani as is usually present in other katydids. It is very unlikely that any sound is produced in 

 the ordinary manner by these locustids, but members of both sexes probabry stridulate by means of a 

 remarkable and interesting harp-like formation of the metasternal lobes and the posterior coxae. This 

 organ is described by Dr. J. Carl in Arch. Sc. Phys. & Natur. Vol. 22, p. 2, October, 1906. The coxae 

 bear a series of parallel transverse striae which, when drawn over a series of stout tubercles situated 

 on the elevated edge of the metasternal plates, make the sound. Carl found them in Sasima spinosa, 

 males, Hyperkomala lanceolata, female, and the male of another species olHyperhomala. The organ is distinct 

 and easilly observed in a male of Hyperkomala woodfordi from the Salomon Islands. — Plate I , Fig. I I . 



But little is recorded of the life or habits of these insects so far as known to the writer. Like the 

 greater majority of the Locustidae they are probably leaf feeders. 



For those desiring to study this group the following three references are given, being three of 

 the more recent and most important contributions to the classification of this subfamily : 



— Brunner von Wattenwyl, Abh. Senckenb. Ges. Frankfurt, Vol. 24, p. 269-265 (1898). 



— Kirby. Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol. 4, p. 3o2-3n (1899). 



— Bolivar, Ann. Mus. Nat. Hung. Vol. 1. p. 172-178 (igo3). 



The five genera comprising this subfamily may be separated as follows : 



TABLE OF GENERA OF SUBFAMILY PHYLLOPHORIN/E 



1. Foramina of the anterior tibiae linear or shell-shaped . . . .\ 



1. Genus Phyli.ophora, Thunberg. 



2. Genus Hyperhomala, Serville. 



— Foramina of the anterior tibiae open 2. 



2. Pronotum longer than broad 3. 



— Pronotum broader than long 5. Genus Strongyloderus, Westwood 1). 



3. Lateral carinae of the pronotum armed with long spines . . . 3. Genus Sasima. Bolivar. 



— Lateral carinae of the pronotum crenulate or densly, but more 



briefly, spinose 4. Genus Siliquofera, Bolivar. 



n This genus is probably not a member of this subfamily, the characters infact rather indicating a relationship with the subfamily Mecopodiinas. 

 The only known specimen, the type, being a nymph its correct systematic position will have to await future investigation. 



