730 
RHYNCHOTA. 
and curve down to the apex of the wings ; anteriorly there is often a 
single upright process which may curve backwards high over the body, or 
be produced laterally into spines, both occurring together in one genus 
(.Leptobelus) ; more often the prothorax is produced anteriorly into two 
divergent thorn-like process, curving forwards, laterally or backwards ; 
in many the prothorax is not produced anteriorly% The scutellum is 
obsolete or concealed in one sub-family ( Membracince ), the tegmina and 
wings are often comparatively small, hyaline and distinctly veined ; they 
are in repose placed at an angle over and against the abdomen, which is 
then concealed. Legs are well developed, short, and the insects can run 
rapidly along a twig or leap off suddenly, taking flight then to another 
twig. Males and females are similar in general appearance. In one 
Himalayan genus (Darthula), the abdomen is produced posteriorly into 
a long bristly process, whose function is not known. 
Little is known of the life-history. We figure some stages of Oxyrha- 
chis tarandus, Fabr. (Plate LXXVIII), a common species of the plains. 
In this as in other species eggs are laid in the bark of twigs of the food- 
plant, cuts being made in two rows at an angle, the eggs laid in the cut 
with the ends exposed ; each egg is cylindrical with rounded ends, a spine¬ 
like process curving back from the end ; this spine apparently serves 
to fix the egg in the plant but may have other functions. The young are 
found gregariously with the adults near the eggs ; they are brown and 
shiny, the body apparently covered with moisture ; the abdomen ter¬ 
minates in a telescopic tube, tipped with red, from which issues the liquid 
excretion which ants love ; the red tip suggests a device to attract the 
ant, since it is visible only when the telescopic tube is extended before the 
liquid issues In one sub-tropical species (Hypsauchenia subfusca, Buckt.), 
the young are very like small cockroaches (Blattids) with a prominent 
pair of cerci, with no sign of any pronotal prominence, the body flat¬ 
tened and rounded. The adults constantly remain motionless on the 
plant until disturbed, often in clusters; they extract sap from the twig 
they are on and are more or less gregarious in habit. Females have been 
observed to rest on or near the eggs until they hatch, and apparently this 
is the normal habit in this species. The length of the life-history is not 
known but development occupies some weeks normally, and while the 
number of eggs laid is large, increase in number does not appear to be 
very great or rapid. Breeding has been observed at all times of the 
