bugs. Specimens are recorded from Cape York (Queensland), and the
tropical scrubs of New Guinea.
Family 9. Bed Bugs.
CIMICIDAE.
The family to which the common bed bug of unsavoury reputation belongs,
is a very small one, comprising only a few genera and about a dozen
species. They have no ocelli; the wing cases are short and do not reach
to the tip of the abdomen; the head is short, with the rostrum when at
rest fitting into a groove beneath it.
_Cimex lectularius_, the common house bug, is supposed to have come
originally from Asia into Europe, and thence transported over the
world. Several other species are found in Europe and America, another
in India, and indigenous species both in Chili and the Isle of Bourbon.
A fossil bug has been found in the Lower Tertiary beds in Scotland
which is said to be very similar if not identical with the present
household pest. Kirkaldy has recently created the Genus _Klinophilos_
to contain our common bed bug, though it has always been considered to
be Linne’s type of the Genus _Cimex_.
Family 10. Leaf Bugs.
CAPSIDAE.
These are all small plant-eating bugs of somewhat delicate structure,
and form a family of considerable size; over 2,000 species having been
recorded from all parts of the world. Several species are well known
pests in India and Ceylon, and a few in America are said to prey on
small insects. Very little attention has been paid to the collection of
these small bugs in this country, but Mr. Kirkaldy informs me that 35
species have been described from Australia, chiefly by Walker, Reuter,
Distant and himself.
They have no ocelli; the antenna is four jointed, with the second joint
usually very long; the scutellum is triangular and very small; the
elytra and wings are large, the former remarkable for having only two
cells in each apical area; the female is furnished with a well-defined
ovipositor. In his “Memoir upon the Rhynchotal family Capsidae” (Trans.
Ent. Soc. London 1902), Kirkaldy lists 6 described species, and also
defines 5 new species which were collected at Alexandria, Victoria.
_Eurybrochis zanna_ is a mottled reddish brown insect, darkest towards
the extremity, measuring under ¼ of an inch in length, and of the
usual form. _Austomiris viridissimus_ is a longer, more slender bug of
a general greenish tint. _Zanessa rubrovariegata_ is again a little
longer, of a uniform brown tint marked with red on the elytra.
Stal (Eugenie’s Resa Novara 1859) described 3 Australian species.
Family 11. Water Bugs.
CRYPTOCERATA.
The several families included in this group comprise a number of
aquatic or semi-aquatic bugs.
The GALGULIDAE, known as “Sand-bugs,” are curious little creatures
distinguished from the others in having ocelli. They are very short
and broad in form, with projecting eyes, and in general appearance
each suggests a miniature crab. They have short four jointed antennae
situated below the eyes, and are furnished with legs well adapted
for running on the ground. They are found on the edges of swamps or
creeks, and feed upon different kinds of small insects. In colour they
are usually of a uniform dull brown to black; the upper surface is
generally much roughened. Never moving unless touched, they trust to
their sordid colours to escape detection, for as they match the ground
so well, they are difficult to find.
_Mononyx annulipes_, one of our commonest species, is about ¼ of an
inch in length; is of a uniform dirty brown tint, with the legs and
under surface dull yellow; the body is very rugose and fringed on the
outer edges with fine bristles. Montandon has described several other
Australian species (Bulletin, Societé des Sciences, Roumania, 1899).
The NEPIDAE are popularly known as “water scorpions” on account of
the curious tail appendages projecting from the tip of the abdomen.
They live in ponds, and feed upon different water insects, attaching
their eggs to the leaves of the plants. They have the wing covers
folded closely over the back protecting the wings from the water, and
fly rapidly from pool to pool when the water dries up. There are many
species found in Australia, most of which have a wide range. _Rantara
varipes_, under 1 inch in length, has a tail about as long again as the
body, and is of a light yellowish brown colour. It might be likened to
a mantis, with its slender form and fore pair of legs furnished with
spines on the inner edges to hold its prey. The other legs are long and
slender with curved claws at the extremities.
In the Genus _Nepa_ the insects have the head and body flattened;
the elytra cover the wings; the abdomen is broadly rounded at the
extremity, terminating in a pair of long slender bristles. The beak
curved under the head is large and stout; the eyes are large, the fore
legs are spined, and the other legs furnished with a pair of slender
curved claws.
_Nepa tristis_, measuring about 1 inch to the tip of the body, is of
the usual form and dull brown colour, with the upper surface of the
abdomen showing bright red when the wings are expanded. It is found in
the bottom of ponds crawling about among the weeds.
Family 12. Fish-killers.
BELOSTOMIDAE.
In the typical genus of this family we have some of the largest known
Hemiptera, measuring up to 3 inches in length and broad in proportion.
They are aquatic, generally living in still waters, feeding on small
fish which they capture with their stout spined legs; they play havoc
with the small fry in a pond, and are popularly known in consequence as
“Fish-killers.”
The body is broad, but flattened on the dorsal surface, coming to a
rounded point at the apex; the well developed wings are folded beneath
the horny elytra; the whole shape being well adapted to the life they
lead. In summer time they often leave their ponds, and, attracted by
the light, come flying to the windows.
_Belostoma indicum_ has a wide range from Southern India to Australia;
it measures slightly under 3 inches in length, and is of a uniform dark
brown colour. The large curved beak bent under the head, projecting
eyes, and great spined fore legs show its carnivorous propensities;
the middle and hind legs are fringed with delicate swimming hairs, and
terminate in a pair of fine claws. Unlike most of the other aquatic
hemiptera, the abdomen terminates in an oval tip without any anal
appendages.
Sharp speaking of this family (Insects Pt. II. p. 567) says: “In the
waters of the warm regions of the continents of both the Old and New
Worlds they are common insects, but as yet they have not been found in
Australia.” However, Mayr records it from Australia, “Die Belostomiden
1871” (Verh. Z. C. Gesell, Wien); and I have a specimen from Port
Darwin, Northern Territory, and also a number of specimens from
Southern Queensland.
_Sphaeroderma equis_ is a curious oval-shaped water-bug that crawls
about among the mud and water weeds in water-holes and creeks; it has
a very wide range, probably all over Australia; the female has the
curious habit of carrying her eggs stuck upon her back in a regular
sheet covering the whole of the elytra. It is of a uniform shining
brown colour, and measures ¾ of an inch in length; the head is smaller
than that of _B. indicum_, with the eyes not so prominent and angular.
Family 13. Back-Swimmers.
NOTONECTIDAE.
These water-bugs have oval convex bodies and always swim with the belly
upwards; their eyes are very large, situated on the sides of the head,
the latter inserted into the prothorax, which overlaps it. The front
legs are shortest, the fore tarsi not flattened but furnished with two
claws. Their bodies are provided with long hairs which enable them to
carry an air supply about with them. They are very active insects, and
can be often observed in our water-holes and ponds swimming beneath
the water, or coming to the surface and raising the tip of the body to
obtain a fresh supply of air, when they can be easily captured with a
hand net.
They insert their eggs in the stems of water plants, which the female
pierces with her sharp ovipositor; and some European species are known
to hibernate in the mud at the bottom of the pools and water-holes.
Several species are common in our ponds and creeks, and are savage
little creatures destroying many other aquatic insects, and even small
fish.
_Enithares bergrothi_ is our common species with a very wide
range over Australia. In their larval state they are silvery white in
appearance, but as the elytra develop and cover the back they change to
dark brown, mottled, shining creatures, with the body measuring about ⅓
of an inch in length.
Family 14. Water-Boatmen.
CORIXIDAE.
The members of the family CORIXIDAE differ from the “Back-swimmers,”
though both are often called “Water-Boatmen,” in having the fore tarsi
flattened, fringed with hairs on the edges, but without any claws,
while the head overlaps the thorax. They swim the opposite way (with
the back upwards), and are flattened on the ventral surface. One or
more species may be often captured with a net in the same situations as
the members of the former group.
_Corixa eurynome_, described by Kirkaldy, is our common species found
in creeks and water-holes all over Australia. It measures over ⅓ of an
inch in length, with the scythe-shaped hind legs projecting behind; it
is of a uniform chocolate brown colour on the dorsal surface, except
the space between the eyes, which with the legs and ventral surface
are dull yellow. The large flattened lead-coloured eyes are almost
triangular.
Sub-Order II.--HOMOPTERA.
This sub-division was formed to include some families of haustellate
insects which, though closely related to the true plant bugs, have
well-defined characteristics that bring them into a natural Sub-Order
of their own. They all have the typical suctorial mouth, but the front
of the head is much inflexed so as to be in contact with the coxae. The
front pair of wings are not true elytra, being generally membranous,
and are usually referred to as tegmina. Some, like the aphids, have
both pairs of wings delicate and transparent; while in the scale
insects, the females are always wingless, and the male is provided
with a single, imperfectly veined pair only. When at rest, the wings
in the typical homoptera are folded over the back like a roof, forming
a ridge. All the families are well represented in Australia, except
the _Aphidae_, of which no indigenous species have been recorded, the
_Psyllidae_ with similar habits taking their place, at any rate in our
western scrubs. Like true hemiptera, they each undergo an incomplete
metamorphosis, some moulting many times before the final ecdysis; and
all feed in the immature and perfect state on the sap of plants.
Kirkaldy has recently described about 200 new species of the families
Fulgoridae, Membracidae, Cercopidae, and Jassidae (Leaf Hoppers and
their Natural Enemies Bulletin I. pt. IX., Hawaii 1905), collected
by Messrs. Koebele and Perkins chiefly in Queensland. In his
classification based on Hanson’s (Ent. Tedssker xi. 1890) he divides
them into 8 families and creates 76 new genera.
Family 1. Cicadas.
CICADIDAE.
The most familiar sound in the summer months in Australia, particularly
along the coastal districts is the harsh, incessant screech of the
cicadas; the hotter the day the shriller the tone, and from the first
week in November to the end of January it is more or less constant.
They are too well known to need much description, but it might
be remarked that it is very unfortunate that they are commonly called
“locusts” for, strictly speaking, the term “locust” should only be
applied to the short-horned grasshoppers belonging to a different
order, Family Acridiidae.
[Illustration: Plate XXXIII.--HOMOPTERA.
Family CICADIDAE.
4. _Cyclochila australasiae_ (Donovan).
1. Pupa on emergence from the ground.
2. Pupa casting its skin.
3. Fore-leg of pupa.
5. Ovipositor and sheath separated.
6. Side view of ovipositor.
7. Ovipositor viewed from above.
8. Cross section of ovipositor, showing cutting saws and egg
passages.]
[Illustration: _Plate XXXIII.--HOMOPTERA._]
The head is broad, more or less truncate in front, with prominent
eyes on the sides, and small gem-like ocelli arranged triangularly on
the summit; each antenna consists of one stout basal joint surmounted
with several (usually four) segments forming a bristle. The tegmina or
fore wings, larger and stouter than the hind pair, are furnished with
thickened veins, and are frequently mottled with brown, usually forming
bands or spots on the cross nervures. The swollen fore legs are spined;
the thorax is well developed; and while the large hollow abdomen of
the male is pointed at the extremity, that of the female (usually the
larger insect) is furnished with a horny retractile ovipositor, which
is adapted for cutting the bark of the twig, wherein she deposits her
eggs.
The complicated musical apparatus of the male is situated between the
thorax and base of the abdomen, and consists of a large plate on either
side attached to, but extending over the basal portion of the abdomen
(these plates are often called the drums or opercula); beneath in the
abdomen is a cavity formed into two cells within which are two thin
glass-like plates called mirrors; above these mirrors are bundles of
muscles which lead to two membranes formed like kettle-drums; each
membrane has a concave and a convex surface, the latter folded and full
of ridges.
Haswell (Pro. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 1886) describes it thus: “The loud
shrill note emitted by the insect is the result of a quick succession
of crackling sounds produced by the movement of the stiff membrane
with its horny ribs, through the agency of the muscle. Under ordinary
circumstances, the sounds follow one another with sufficient quickness
to produce a continuous note, and this is effected not by the
contraction of the muscle as a whole, but by the successive contraction
of individual _fasciculi_ (different filaments forming the whole),
all of which act on the horny plate, and thus the movements of the
muscle on the tendon during the production of the note resemble those
of the hammer-board of a piano when a number of keys are being struck
in quick succession.”
The life history of cicadas has attracted much attention; on first
emerging from the eggs they might easily be taken for minute shrimps,
apparently all heads and claws. They cast themselves off the branch
and, falling to the ground, burrow into the soil and follow down the
roots, where they feed upon the sap and undergo a series of moults. We
do not know the length of time that they take to develop underground,
but the adults of several of our large species, though each year more
or less in evidence, appear in greater numbers every third year, so
that it is probable that three years is about the cycle of their
subterranean existence. The grotesque pupa burrowing upward when fully
developed, bores a vertical shaft often several feet long before it
comes to the surface, when it crawls out and climbs up the nearest tree
trunk or fence, where it clings till the skin splits down the back, and
the perfect cicada emerges. The dry brown pupal shells firmly attached
by the sharp claws remain long after the inmates have departed.
Cicadas are well represented in our insect fauna, a number of large
handsome species being found along the coastal forest country, and many
smaller ones in the interior. The large ones attracted the attention of
collectors at a very early date: Donovan, Leach, and Guérin described
several, and Walker (British Museum Catalogue, Homoptera 1850) added a
number of new species from material in the Museum collections, but his
localities and descriptions are very vague and unsatisfactory. Since
then Distant between 1882 and the present date has greatly increased
our list of described species. In 1904 Dr. Goding and I monographed the
Australian Cicadas (Pro. Linn. Soc. N.S.W.), describing a number of new
forms, and bringing the number up to 120 species in 18 genera. Last
year (1906), the Trustees of the British Museum issued a “Synonymic
Catalogue of Homoptera, Part I., Cicadidae,” compiled by Distant; in
this a number of alterations in the earlier classification are made,
as indicated in his recent contributions on this family in “The Annals
and Magazine of Natural History” 1900–1906. He places them in three
distinct sub-families which are subdivided into seventeen smaller
divisions. Many of our species are now placed in other genera.
The sub-family CICADINAE contains many of our largest and most striking
species. Its members have the front edge of the basal abdominal segment
on each side produced forward in a leaf-like expansion, which more or
less covers the sound organs.
The genus _Thopha_ contains two very fine species: _Thopha saccata_,
“The Double Drummer,” takes its popular name from the great size of
the opercula projecting on the sides of the thorax. It is a reddish
brown cicada, its wings marked with brown and black, and it measures 5
inches across the outspread wings; it lives in open forest country; has
a loud, distinct note; and ranges from South Australia to Brisbane.
_Thopha sessiliba_ is a somewhat smaller but brighter-coloured species
ranging northward along the Queensland coast from Townsville, and is
found in Central Australia at Tennant’s Creek.
[Illustration: =Fig. 154.=--_Thopha saccata_
(Fabr.).
The large Cicada called by the children “The Double Drummer.”
(“Agricultural Gazette,” N.S.W.)]
The Genus _Arunta_ was formed by Distant to contain two Australian
species, of which _Cicada perulata_ described by Guérin is the type. It
is a handsome insect, 4 inches across the wings; is of a reddish brown
tint mottled with lighter colours; the wings are unspotted; and the
male can be easily recognised by the large white frosted opercula. It
is not a very common species; it is taken sometimes about Sydney.
The next division contains three genera typical of Australian species.
The Genus _Cyclochila_ until lately contained a single species, but
Distant has lately described a second from N. Queensland. _Cyclochila
australasiae_ is our common large green cicada, called by the children
the “Green Monday.” The whole insect is rich green, the colour
extending into the nervures of the tegmina; there is a yellow variety
not so common, called in consequence the “Yellow Monday”: I have
counted as many as 40 of these fine insects resting on the trunk of a
small oak-tree in my garden in the early morning.
The Genus _Psaltoda_ contains 7 species peculiar to Australia.
_Psaltoda moerens_, our common black cicada, is called the “Red Eye”
by the Sydney boys on account of the bright colour of the ocelli.
It measures over 4 inches across the wings, which are mottled with
black on the tegmina, and marked with the same colour on the wings.
It frequents the smooth white-stemmed gum trees, and ranges from
Brisbane, Queensland to Adelaide, South Australia, and is also found
in Tasmania. _P. harrisi_ is a smaller and somewhat variable form both
in size and colour; it varies from black to brown and even dull green;
the wings are very slightly mottled, and it can be easily distinguished
from the “Red Eye” by the more distinct silvery patch on the sides of
the body.
[Illustration: =Fig. 155.=--_Psaltoda (cicada)
moerens_ (Germer).
The Common Black Cicada or “Red Eye.”]
The members of the Genus _Henicopsaltria_, four in number, are also
peculiar to this country. _Henicopsaltria eydouxi_, one of our
commonest species, frequents the trunks of the rough-barked gum trees;
I have counted over 300 on a single tree on the coast near Gosford,
N.S.W. It measures nearly 5 inches across the wings; is of a general
mottled light brown and chestnut colour, with the wings infuscated with
three zig-zag bands of brown; the opercula are orange red. _H. fullo_,
peculiar to W. Australia, is a very distinctive blackish coloured
species measuring about 3 inches across the wings; it can be easily
identified by its banded wings and the dorsal surface of the abdomen
ornamented with a transverse white band about the centre of the body.
The Genus _Macrotristria_ now contains 7 species; most of these were
originally described in the Genus _Cicada_, and have representatives
in all parts of Australia, two coming from W. Australia, and two
richly-coloured green species from the tropical forests of N.
Queensland, while _Macrotristria angularis_, our common, large, dark
brown species, variegated with light yellowish spots on the head and
thorax and with deeply infuscated wings, ranges from Adelaide, S.A., to
Queensland.
The Sub-family GAENINAE contains a number of South American and Asiatic
cicadas, among them some with very brightly coloured wings. Two members
of the Genus _Tettigia_ are found in North Queensland and North
Australia, both of which were once placed in the genus _Tibicen_;
while _Tettigia tristigma_ is the type of the Genus _Tamasa_. The
handsome black and yellow mottled _Gaeana maculata_, common in India
and China, has been recorded by White from Australia, and Goding and I
had specimens from the Northern Territory of S. Australia, but Distant
does not notice this record.
The Sub-family TIBICININAE have the front edge of the basal abdominal
segment straight, not produced forward; and the sound organs are
entirely uncovered. _Venustria superba_ is a curious ferruginous insect
with rich coppery tints upon the tegmina and wings, which comes from
North Queensland. Dodd usually collected it in the neighbourhood of
termite nests.
[Illustration: =Fig. 156.=--_Henicopsaltria
eydouxi_ (Guérin).
The Mottled Grey Cicada.
(“Agricultural Gazette,” N.S.W.)]
The Genus _Abricta_ now includes most of our species previously placed
in the Genus _Tibicen_; thirteen are listed from Australia. _Abricta
curvicosta_, one of the largest, measures about 4 inches across the
wings; is reddish brown with a pale stripe down the centre of the
prothorax, and three black spots on each of the tegmina. It is one of
the common species about Sydney, N.S.W., in midsummer, and is called
the “Floury Miller” on account of the silvery pubescence covering the
body which makes it look as if it had been dusted with flour. _A.
aurata_ ranges from Tasmania and Victoria into the southern districts
of N.S. Wales, and is usually found upon the fern trees; it is a
smaller darker coloured cicada with a large, sometimes double, black
spot on each tegmina.
Distant (Pro. Zool. Soc. 1882) described a number of new species
chiefly obtained from North Queensland; and, finding it difficult
to give them distinctive specific names that would define their
peculiarities, he got over the difficulty by naming them after
Australian explorers. _A. willsi_ is a small species measuring
about two inches across the wings, which are marked with two small
spots, and it can be easily distinguished from all the others by the
curious rugose yellowish patch on the sides of the prothorax. It has
a very wide range over N.S. Wales, Queensland, North, and probably W.
Australia, both along the coast and in the interior.
_Parnkella muelleri_ is only about 1½ inches across the wings which
have two spots on each tegmina, and is of a pale yellow tint. It is
restricted in its range to North Queensland. The tiny little yellowish
green cicada found upon the grassy plains of Southern Victoria and S.
Australia, described as _Tibicen infans_, is now placed in the South
African Genus _Quintilia_.
[Illustration: =Fig. 157.=--_Macrotristria (cicada)
angularis_ (Germer).
The “Fiddler.”
(“Agricultural Gazette,” N.S.W.)]