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Show 868 ON THE INSECTS OF THE " SKEAT EXPEDITION." [DeC. 4, the insect might be by its legs), it is obvious that the whole structure would fly off into the air at a tangent • only supposing that the pressure was slightly oblique at auy point. I have no doubt that this is substantially what occurs in the case of Hotinus; but in the living insect the action is far too rapid for the eye to discriminate its details, and dead specimens cannot be made to leap in this way, because it is impossible to force the legs to perform their part of the action. In two specimens of Hotinus, which I observed on tree-trunks at Aring, the wiugs were spread after the insects had leapt into tbe air, but not immediately they left their perch. Both of them distinctly bent down their heads before they jumped. The nose is perfectly hollow, and does not appear to contain any muscle. It differs, of course, from the whalebone in respect of its hollowness, and also in that it is only flexible at one point. In specimens preserved in spirit it is largely filled with liquid, but contains a bubble of air, which naturally rises to the tip when the apparatus is in its resting position, and runs towards its base when the head is lowered. When I had made the discovery in m y first specimen of Hotinus, I examined some Fulgorid larvae, almost certainly those of Pyrops nobilis, which had been brought to m e by a native at Ban Sai Kau in Nawnchik, and which I had preserved in spirit. The nose was well developed in these, although tbe abdomen was still small and unexpanded and the wings as yet mere stumps. I found that the joint was present in these specimens also, and still retained a certain amount of springiness, though they had been dead for a month. Since coming home, I have been enabled, by the kindness of Professor Poulton, to examine dried specimens of tw7enty-six species of long-nosed Fulgoridae, belonging to nine genera. In individuals of sixteen of these species 1 am able to distinguish a crease running across the nose in exactly tbe same position as it does in m y specimen of Hotinus. All of the remaining ten species in the Hope Collection, of which species Pyrops nobilis is one, have either comparatively short, spiny, or otherwise peculiar noses. I have no doubt that the joint w7ould be found in them also, were fresh specimens examined ; even in my larvae, in which it is still flexible, there is no external sign of its existence except a slight translucency of the integument. The members of the bulbous-nosed American genus Fulgora probably use their heads in the same manner as the less highly modified Oriental forms. There is a deep hollow across the noses of the former which seems to correspond to the crease in that of Hotinus; and I have satisfied myself at auy rate that a certain very limited flexibility exists at this point even in dried specimens. What is wanted is a series of instantaneous photographs from life. Malay Name,-At Biserat Hotinus spinolce goes by the name of " Raja Legeh," but this is probably a corruption of some more direct appellation. |