FULGORIM. 
723 
and are warningly or cryptically coloured; a large number more are small 
dull coloured insects found in grass and forming an important part of 
the fauna of pasture ; while a small number of insufficiently known forms 
live on the roots of grasses or other plants, in the soil. The structure is 
immensely varied and in few other groups is such a variety of forms 
equalled. The head is distinct, often prolonged upwards and forwards 
into grotesque shapes, produced below and ending in the rostrum with 
sucking mouthparts. Eyes are often large, the small ocelli set in cavities 
near them. Antennae consist usually of two joints and a bristle, but these 
joints are often long and flattened, and are furnished with peculiar sen¬ 
sory organs. The body is well developed and short, with tegmina and, 
as a rule, wings ; the tegmina are thickened and coloured or hyaline, 
and in repose are carried over the abdomen, meeting in the middle and 
sloped at varying angles. Wings are sometimes minute, often ample 
but rarely coloured or ornamented. The legs share in the general bizarre¬ 
ness of form, the forelegs sometimes foliaceously expanded, the hind legs 
with a tuft of spurs and a varied number of spines. The females are simi¬ 
lar to the males except in the external genital organs. 
Very little is known of the life-history. Eggs are commonly laid 
in the tissues of plants (in a cut made by the female ovipositor) or on 
them and are often covered in a white 
mealy secretion produced by the female, a 
mass of which is usually found on her abdo¬ 
men. The number of moults is unknown 
except in Pyrilla (Zamila) aberrans where 
it is five. The nymphs are often clothed in 
wax similar to that of the females and some 
are very active leaping insects. Known 
species occur most abundantly when food is 
plentiful in the rains and they are known 
to hibernate in shelter in any stage, the 
cold simply checking development. Two 
species are known to be pests to crops, and 
Fig. 497— Pyrilla aberrans. the importance of the family as a whole 
Last Nymphal Instar, x 4. . , , ,,i i A , j r 
cannot as yet be settled. A study ot the 
parasites of this family would yield results of interest and we are almost 
wholly ignorant as to the checks on their increase beyond those caused 
