nsects is derived,
_Membracis_, meaning sharp-edged, the sides of the slope being covered
by the close-fitting wings, which, though apparently compact with the
body of the insect, are nevertheless always available for instant and
most agile flight. We now discover two pairs of stout legs just beneath
the edge of the wings, a third more slender pair being concealed behind,
ready for immediate use in association with these buzzing wings when the
whim of the midget prompts it to leap.

[Illustration]

This insect is the tree-hopper, and is but one of many equally curious
and mimetic species to be found among the smaller branches of various
trees and shrubs.

Our largest membracis is to be seen--with difficulty--on the terminal
twigs of the locust-tree, its outlines so exactly imitating the thorny
growths of the branch as to escape detection even by the closest
scrutiny. Another remarkable species is a protege of the oak, so closely
simulating the warty bark of the smaller branches upon which it is
found that our eyes may rest upon it repeatedly without recognizing it.
The life history of these singular insects is quite similar, and is soon
told. The membracis belongs to the tribe of "Bugs," Hemiptera, which
implies that it possesses a beak instead of jaws, by which it sucks the
sap of plants, precisely like the aphis, or plant-louse. This tiny beak
we can readily distinguish bent beneath the body of our bittersweet
hopper. Inserting it deep into the succulent bark, the parasite remains
for hours as motionless as the thorn it imitates, the lower outline of
its body hugging close against the bark. The curious suggestion of the
thorn is produced not only by the outline, but by the curious fact that
the hopper never sits _across_ the twig, but always in the direction of
its length; and, what is more, the projecting point of the thorax is
always directed towards the end of the branch, or direction of growth.
It is no easy thing even for the casual botanist to determine this nice
point in a given segment of a bittersweet branch placed in his hand, the
position of the chance leaf or leaf scar being his only guide. But the
_Membracis binotata_ rarely--indeed never, so far as I have
examined--makes a mistake. Thus the wandering spray of bittersweet,
recurve and twist upon itself as it may, will always disclose the
little hopper or colony of them headed for its tip.

[Illustration]

But I have omitted to mention one singular f