MONOGRAPH 
' • 
OF THE 
MEMBRACIDiE. 
INTRODUCTION. 
One of the glories of Creation consists in the infinite variety therein displayed. In 
the department of Biology this diversity is nowhere better shown than in Ento¬ 
mology, in which form, colour, and adaptability of structure are subjects of the 
highest interest. 
The family Membracidse here illustrated, will in novelty nowhere yield the palm 
to other insect groups. The great divisions of the insect-body into head, thorax, 
and abdomen, have in the Homoptera each their own special abnormal develop¬ 
ments, which may be exemplified by the gigantic head of the lantern fly, Fulgora 
laternaria, the extraordinary contortions and expansion of the thorax in Heteronotus 
bicinctus, and the inflated bladder-like abdomen of the Cicada, Cgstosoma saundersii. 
It has been thought that the larger part of the animal matter of this globe is 
locked up in insect forms. Few, indeed, consider how these comparatively small 
animals are so much concerned in human economy. Out of the two hundred and 
sixty thousand insects already named, eighteen thousand are Hemiptera or bugs, 
and of these insects the Homopterous Membracidse are somewhat important in point 
of number. It is computed by Mr. W. F. Kirby that up to 1898 inclusive, about 
one thousand one hundred and fifty species have been noted or described, and this 
number might be probably doubled with safety, when we consider our ignorance of 
the sub-tropical parts of many regions of the world. 
The question may be asked, Why are we so ignorant of these curious forms ? 
This may partly be answered by the fact that what we call extraordinary develop¬ 
ments of parts are to be noted in some inverse ratio to the magnitude of the living 
forms, and therefore interest in certain small forms cannot be excited through the 
naked eye, but recourse often must be made to a lens or a microscope to elicit 
sufficient interest in them. 
A 
