742 
RHYNCHOTA. 
PSYLLIDiE. 
Small insects, with one or two fairs of wings in both sexes, 'without 
siphons ; the nymph is flattened, partially 
active in all stages. 
These are small insects, of infrequent occurrence, found in galls or 
on plants. The antennae are moderately short, the head with compound 
eyes and a beak, the thorax 
well-developed with one or 
two pairs of hyaline wings 
in which are two or more 
veins. The abdomen is well 
developed, and the legs are 
formed for running, not 
leaping. Males and females 
are similar in general ap¬ 
pearance. The life-history 
is known in few species ; the 
nymphs are flattened, the 
wing-pads visible in the last 
three instars ; the legs are well developed and the nymph can walk. 
Some are free living, found on the leaves and twigs of plants, others 
live concealed in galls ; the latter are 
probably predominant and a large 
number of galls in India are the work 
of this family. No species has been 
carefully studied and very few are 
even known. In the present state of 
entomology, their identification is 
practically impossible and the Indian 
species are almost wholly unrecorded. 
The family has little direct economic 
importance, one species being destruc¬ 
tive to indigo seriously in some seasons, 
another occurring on citrus plants. We 
figure two species occurring in galls 
Fig. 515 —Galls caused by Psylla 011 Alstonia scholaris and Ficus glome- 
cistellata ON Mango. ; several others are known, both 
Fig. 511 —Psylla cistellata. (I. M. N.) 
