732 
RHYNCHOTA. 
on bushes in the plains. L. taurus , Fabr., breeds on sissu (Dalbergia 
sissu), ber ( Zizyphus jujuba) and on brinjal (Solanum melongena) ; the 
nymph is green and is often kept in leaf-nests by the red ant (Oecophylla 
smaragdina). Gargara mixta , Buckt,, is a small form, with no lateral 
processes, found breeding upon sissu [Dalbergia sissu). 
That extraordinary insect Darthula is placed in this family, though 
its habits agree with the Cere opine division of the next family. It is 
a large red-brown insect, with a long black process at the apex of the 
abdomen ; seen solitary there is marked^ mimicry of a fallen withered 
bramble-leaf, the process being the hairy leaf stalk ; but the insect 
lives gregariously upon the Himalayan alder (Alnus nepalensis), where 
the clusters present a most grotesque appearance with the bristly 
processes sticking out at all angles. Like the Cercopince, these squirt 
out fluid when agitated. The species is not a tropical one, occurring 
in the Himalayas. 
Cercopid^e. 
Ocelli two, on the vertex. Third tibiae with stout teeth 
and short spines at the apex. 
The absence of the double row of spines on the hind tibiae distinguish¬ 
es this family from the next, while the simple prothorax distinguishes it 
from membracids. There is a characteristic 
appearance about the plains species which 
enables them to be recognised easily in the 
field. Most are small, wedge-shaped insects, 
commonly “ dry-grass colour ” ; the larger 
and more brilliant forms occur in the hills or 
in submontane forest areas ; these constitute 
a markedly separate division, and it would 
not be difficult to divide this family into three 
separate families; the Machcerotince have 
the scutellum produced into a spine, and 
live in tubes when young ; the Aphrophorince 
have the anterior margin of the pronotum rounded or angulate ; the 
adults are found in grass and low vegetation, and have great powers 
of leaping; the nymphs live in “ Cuckoo-spits ” / the Cercopince 
have the anterior margin of the pronotum straight and have the eyes 
Fig. 507— Clovia JBifunc- 
TATA. X 4. 
