- Fulgoridae
Taxobox
name = Fulgoridae
image_caption = "Pyrops candelarius "
regnum =Animal ia
phylum =Arthropod a
classis =Insect a
subclassis =Pterygota
infraclassis =Neoptera
superordo =Exopterygota /Paraneoptera
ordo =Hemiptera
subordo =Auchenorrhyncha
infraordo = Fulgoromorpha
superfamilia =Fulgoroidea
familia = Fulgoridae
subdivision_ranks = Subfamilies
subdivision =Amyclinae Aphaeninae Fulgorinae Lystrinae Phenacinae The family Fulgoridae is a large group of hemipteran insects, especially abundant and diverse in the tropics, containing over 125 genera world-wide. They are mostly of moderate to large size, many with a superficial resemblance to
Lepidoptera due to their brilliant and varied coloration. Various genera and species (especially the genera "Fulgora " and "Pyrops ") are sometimes referred to as lantern flies, though they do not emit light.The head of some species is produced into a hollow process, resembling a snout, which is sometimes inflated and nearly as large as the body of the insect, sometimes elongated, narrow and apically upturned. It was believed, mainly on the authority of
Maria Sibylla Merian , that this process, the so-called lantern, was luminous at night.Linnaeus adopted the statement without question and coined a number of specific names, such as "laternaria", "phosphorea" and "candelaria" to illustrate the supposed fact, and thus aided in promoting a belief which centuries of observations have failed to confirm.
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