RHYNCHOTA. 
J 95 
Cixius nervosus (enlarged). 
The European species of Fulgoridce are not remarkable for their size or the 
brilliancy of their colours. Issus coleoptratus is perhaps the largest British species, 
and we figure Cixius nervosus, another widely dis¬ 
tributed British and European species, together with 
Pseudophana europcea, the sole representative in 
Europe of its genus, and sometimes spoken of as the 
European lantern-fly. 
The frog-hoppers ( Cercopidce ) are mostly small 
insects with a short broad head and stiff opaque 
elytra. They usually have two ocelli placed on the 
vertex of the head between the compound eyes; and 
their antennae are inserted, not below the eyes as in 
the Fulgoridce, but between and a little way in front of them. These insects can 
give most vigorous leaps, and their hind-legs are generally thickened or other¬ 
wise adapted for that purpose. They feed 
on various plants, and in the summer the 
frothy masses in which their larvae lie con¬ 
cealed may be seen in numbers. It is from 
this habit the larvae have of surrounding- 
c5 
themselves in a mass of froth, known as 
cuckoo - spit, that the name Aphrophora 
(froth-bearing) has been given to one of the 
principal genera. A species of that genus is 
shown in the illustration on p. 196, where 
another form ( Ledra aurita) — remarkable 
for an ear - like lobe on each side of the 
prothorax — is also figured. The family 
Membracidce includes mostly exotic insects, which have in many cases an extra¬ 
ordinary appearance, owing to the shape of the prothorax, or the curious way in 
which it is armed with spines or knobs, or with both combined. In these insects 
the head is somewhat vertical, and usually placed rather low down; it carries very 
short antennae inserted near the front margin; and there are two ocelli between 
the compound eyes. The family is best represented in Tropical America, very few 
species being found in Europe, and two only in Britain. Centrotus cornutus, one 
of the two latter, may be recognised by the form of its prothorax, which carries 
on each side a horny spine, and is prolonged behind in another horny process, 
reaching almost to the end of the body. 
The leaf-fleas ( Psyllidce )—included with the next two families in that section 
of the order to which the name Phytophthires has been given—are little 
jumping insects, winged in both sexes, and using their wings not so much for 
the purpose of flying as to assist in their leaps. They have moderately long- 
antennae, consisting of eight or ten joints, and are thus easily distinguished 
from the Cercopidce. The head is provided with three ocelli, in addition to the 
compound eyes; and the tarsi are two-jointed. Owing to their method of 
locomotion, these insects are not liable to be mistaken for plant-lice, although, like 
these insects, they infest the leaves and buds of plants. They prick the leaves to 
WM 
Pseudophana europcea. 
