Feb., 1904 .] Note on Alate Form of Phylloscelis. 
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NOTE ON ALATE FORM OF PHYLLOSCELIS.* 
Herbert Osborn. 
The genus Phj-lloscelis was established in 1839 by Gerinar to 
contain the American species atra and pallescens. 
One of the generic characters of this genus has been the absence 
of wings. Stal using this in his key ( Heinip. Africana, IV, p. 
15 1 j to separate the genus from other genera of Dictyopharida. 
Partly owing to lack of knowledge of wing structure the genus 
has been difficult to place, and some authors have included it in 
the Caloscelinae because of the foliaceous anterior legs, others 
including it in Dictyopharinae on elytral characters, etc., not- 
withstanding the absence of the 
projecting vertex. 
No one seems to have de- 
scribed the alate form and it 
was therefore with much inter- 
est that I discovered a short 
time ago an individual with 
fully developed wings in the 
collection of Mr. Dury, of Cin- 
cinnati. The specimen, indeed, 
differs so much in general ap- 
pearance from the ordinary 
apterous individual that its rela- 
tion to Phylloscelis atra was not 
at first suspected. 
The main difference lies, how- 
ever, in the larger development 
of the elytra and the presence 
of perfect wings. The elytra 
are elongate, oval, thick and 
black to apex, the venation 
es.sentially like the apterous 
form. The wings are nearh- as 
long as elytra, broadly rounded, 
the anal area without reticula- 
tion and the venation of Dicty- 
opharid pattern. Based on 
venation, tlieretore, it becomes possible to definitely refer the 
genus to the subfamily Dictyopharidae. Whether this character 
should have greater weight than the dilation of tibiae may be 
an open question. Usually, however, venational characters are 
counted of special value. 
*Read at the November meeting of Ohio State Academy of Science. 
Fig. I. Phylloscelis atra. «, elytron 
of apterous form; h, elytron of macrop- 
terous lorm; c, wing. 
