The empty pupal skin is then left clinging as it stood, and, as the natural elasticity of the skin causes the aperture to close, the empty skin is apparently unchanged in external appearance, its translucency alone betraying that there is nothing but air inside it. Even the very covering of the eyes is thrown off, and I find that although the hexagonal facets of the compound eye are plain enough when viewed through an ordinary pocket-magnifier, no trace of them is to be seen upon the cast pupal skin. Indeed, in this shed skin the horny covering of the eyes looks wonderfully like the similar part of the cast skin of a serpent. The great Cicadte of Surinam, which can be obtained for a few pence at any naturalist’s shop, are admirable assistants to the student, as their great size enables him to handle them easily, and there is a wonderful difference between the dissection of an insect a quarter of an inch in length and one that measures from two to three inches.

Passing by tbe Fulgoridse, or Lantern-flies, of which we have no British examples, we come to the third family, the Cercopidce, which are plentifully represented in this country, and, indeed, are much too plentifully represented according to the ideas of gardeners. In this family the antennas have only three joints, the last joint being elongated into a slender, bristlelike filament. There are only two ocelli, which are set either

the forehead or the face, and the legs are fitted for leaping. on The males do not possess any sound-producing apparatus. familiarly known in their perfect state by the They are of Hoppers, and in their larval state by that of popular name Cuckoo-spit, or Frog-spit.

The name Cercopis is Greek, and was used by the ancient wi-iters on natural history to denote some kind of Cicada.

1 . Ptyelus bifasciatus. 2. Centrotus cornntus. 3- Aphis tilia;, female.

Aphis tiliae, male. a. Aphis, leg. b. Do., labiiun. c. Do., head.

Our first example of this family is the Eared Hopper {Centrotus cornutus), which is shown at Fig. 2 on Woodcut LXII.

This creature is remarkable, not for the brilliancy of its

colouring, nor for the boldness of its marking ; for it is simply

dark-brown dotted with a very slight yellowish-dun, and has

no markings whatever.

But the ‘ pronotum,’ or first portion of the upper part of the thorax, is developed in the most extraordinary manner into a horn-like projection at each side, while the centre bears a long, sword-like appendage, which reaches over the whole of the body and very nearly reaches to the tip of the abdomen. The whole of the upper part of the thorax, the two appendages at the side, and the sword-shaped horn, are covered with tubercles, which give the surface a glittering aspect when the light shines on it. A magnifying-glass is necessary in order to detect these tubercles. The only colour in the upper wings is restricted to the base, where there is a little patch of circular, eye-like spots, each having a solid black centre, then a white ring and then a narrow black ring or outline. There is also a slight clouding of chestnut brown.

This curious insect has the upper wings shining and rather yellowish, and the under wings transparent and iridiscent, with brown nervures. The thighs are rusty red, and the rest of the leg pitchy black. It is tolerably common in woods and gardens, and can be taken in the sweep-net by passing it over laurels, thistles, and the herbage of the hedge-side. It appears in May

June. The first specimen of this insect that I ever and was given to me in 1 850 by the late Rev. F. M . possessed with whose magnificent collection all entomologists are Hope, familiar.

On Plate XVIII. Fig. 1 is represented an insect which is name of Ledra aurita. I do not know that it called by the popular name. Like the last-mentioned insect, it has has any from the thorax, .which in this case some curious projections take the form of two flat projections from each side, lookinglike ears, whence the speciflc name aurita, or eared. somewhat of these ‘ ears ’ are notched or waved. It is not a The edges insect in point of colour, its principal hue being dull handsome which is apt to change after death to yellowisholive-green, is covered with a number of small reddish brown. The head As to the rest of the insect, it cannot be seen tubercles. are spread. The upper pair are oliveproperly until the wings towards the tip, and the nervures green, becoming transparent under wings are pale grey-brown with dark are brown. The is very wide, flat, and covered with a nervures. The abdomen

Plate Xviii. Terrestrial Homoptera And Heteroptera.

Ledra aurita. 2. Ledra aurita, larva, 3. Triepphora sanguinolenta. 4. Pentatoina dissimile. 5. Steuoceplialus agilis.

Plants : — Great Pagwort (^Smecio Jacohea). Above. White Dead Nettle (Lamkini album). Below.

w '

but can only leap a very short distance. jumps when alarmed, I rather horny skin. The perfect insect

The larva of this insect is shown at P^ig. 2 of the same Plate. It is coloured much like the adult insect, but has no wings nor I the least signs of tlie conspicuous ‘ ears ’ which decorate it [ when adult. Even when it assumes the pupal state these ■q projections are not visible, their places being merely indicated by two raised knobs. It is not a common insect, and has been mostly taken in the New Forest by beating it out of oak. The larva feeds upon oak, and does not surround itself with the frothy secretion so familiar to us as Cuckoo-spit. One of them was discovered by the Eev. T. A. Marshall, while digging at the roots of an oak in January ; this discovery proving that the insect hibernates while still in the larval state. It has been found in Purfleet in Kent.

On the same Plate, Fig. 3, is shown a very beautiful insect, which in point of colour is by far the handsomest of our British Homoptera. This is the Scaiilet Hoppee {Triepphora — or Cercopis — sanguinolenta). It is impossible to give in the simple black and white of printer’s-ink an idea of the beautiful and bold colouring of this insect.

That part which appears as white is rich scarlet, and the rest deep black, both having a velvety appearance. When one of these beautiful wings is placed under the microscope, the cause of the rich velvety look is at once shown. The surface of the wing, instead of being smooth, as it appears to the unaided eye, is covered with a vast number of minute rounded projections, very much like those on the upper surface of a geranium petal. An irregular network of fine black lines traverses the whole of the wing, and at each of the intersections there is a round black spot with a translucent centre, the whole of these markings having the etfect of softening and enriching the colour in a very effective manner. Both the black and the red portions of the wing are thus adorned.

This handsome insect is very local, and in many parts of tlie country is never seen. It used to be very plentiful in Bagley Wood, near Oxford, and all the specimens in my collection were taken there by myself in 1847. It was always found on the fern, and was mostly captured by using the sweep-net at

random. It could often be seen sitting on tlie fern-leaves, but it is so active and wary that as soon as the intending captor approaches, it jumps off the leaf, falls to the ground, and is lost. Sometimes it flies to a little distance, but as a rule it does not trouble itself to use its wings, but merely leaps to the 0 ground.

Next come those insects which are popularly known as k CucKOO-SPiTSj because it used to be the general opinion that they were formed either from the spittle of the cuckoo or that of the frog, and in consequence they have also received the name of Frog-hoppees. This very absurd notion is by no means confined to this country, neither is it modern ; for in the days of Aristotle the insects were said to be generated from the spittle of the cuckoo, while the French popular name of Crachat de Grenouilles shows that the notion of the frog-spit 1 prevails on the Continent as well as in England.

One of these insects, scientifically termed Ptyelus bif asciatus, is shown on Woodcut LXII. Fig. 1.

This is a most accommodating creature as far as regards 5^ colour, for it takes almost any hue or mixture of hues between grey and black. Some specimens are almost wholly black, and \ some are entirely grey. Many have the upper wings black, and the thorax spotted with yellow. Grenerally, however, the insect is crossed with two bands of a lighter hue than its ground colour, whence the specific name of bif asciatus, or two-banded.

The larva of this and allied insects has a very cmrious mode of life. It fixes its residence on the young and tender twigs, and drives its proboscis into the bark, whence it draws the sap which constitutes its nutriment. Just as the larvae of several insects cover their bodies with the remains of their solid food,^ so are the larvae of the Frog-hopper protected by the remains of their liquid food. They eject a quantity of liquid, which is formed into bubbles, and takes the form of a frothy substance,^ in which the body of the larva is entirely concealed. As every one knows, bubbles have a proverbially, short existence, and break in succession, allowing a drop of clear these bubbles fluid to collect at the bottom of tlie froth-mass.y transparent becomes too large to be upheld it falls to the' When this drop

and another takes its place. If the froth be put aside .ground, the larva will be discovered in its midst — a little, soft, white creature, with tiny black eyes that form a curious contrast to the general white hue of the body.

In the perfect state all these insects jump with great agility, and in this movement their hind legs are almost exclusively employed. The commonest of all the species, A'phro'phora spumaHa, or the Common Feog-hopper, can jump to a wonderful distance, even unaided by its wings. Indeed, the ordinary • leap of the Frog-hopper is about equal to that of a man who could jump four hundred yards without even taking a run. In making this astonishing leap, the insect is aided by some sharp spikes or spines upon the ends of the tibiae, which enable the limb to take a firm hold of the ground.

Perhaps the actual damage done by the Frog-hopper is not so great as is imagined. A tree contains a vast amount of sap, and none of our British Homoptera possess the wonderful distilling power of a Madagascar species (Aphrophora Goudotii), which has been found capable of pouring out a considerable amount of clear and apparently pure water in the very middle of the day, the sap appearing simply to run through the insect as through a tube. The generic name, Aphrophora, which has been given to this and many allied insects, is formed from two Grreek words, literally signifying ‘ foam-bearing.’

To the unassisted eye, the common Frog-hopper is about as inconspicuous and commonplace an insect as can be found anywhere. The mag'nifying-glass, however, alters the whole aspect of the creature, and an ordinary pocket-lens will show that the upper wings are covered with tiny projections, giving them an appearance very much like that of shagreen.

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