98 HEMIPTERA. 



men. The large concavities of the abdomen, 

 immediately under the two broad lamellae in 

 the male insect, are also faced by a thin, pel- 

 lucid, iridescent membrane, serving to increase 

 and reverberate the sound; and a strong mus- 

 cular apparatus is exerted for the purpose of 

 moving the necessary organs." It is the male 

 alone that makes the noise, the female is per- 

 fectly mute. She has a borer or trunk, pro- 

 jecting from the end of the abdomen, with 

 which she pierces the dead and half-decayed 

 branches of trees, and deposits in the hole her 

 white, oblong, pointed eggs. She makes many 

 holes a quarter of an inch deep, and deposits 

 in each eight or ten eggs, placing them in such 

 a manner, that the posterior end of one may 

 be opposite the anterior end of the following. 



That froth, adhering to the leaves and stems 

 of plants, which is so well known to every one 

 by the name of Cuckow-spittle, contains the 

 larva of the Cicada spumaria, which, in due 

 time, leaves its watery mansion, and skips about 

 the fields in its perfect state. It is then the 

 children's Froghopper. 



