The Illinois free trader and LaSalle County commercial advertiser. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1841-1843, 1843-07-07

" lOI al iilS tNttnt vi ltITlOEE. IitINc,
on this border bel, the insect appears
every eighth and every ninth year altern-
ately. This circumstance has led the
people of that section of country to dlsbe-
lieve in the seventeenth year character Of
this insect. asserting that it is not true. al,
least so far as their section Of country is
concerned. Other sections present other
dcvia,ions from the same cause. For ex-
ample, in the south part Of IIenrico coun-
,y, Virginia. they have the lc.,st this
year, and they will have them again in
1916; the borders of the two dicric,s
tapping as above.
These insects make their way out Of
the ground as soon as the weather be-
comes warm in the spring-say from the
18th of April in the south to the 18th Of
May in the Nor,h-makng a round hole,
like three-fourth augur hole, in the
ground. In grove of shrubbery, that
was occupied by trees or shrubs seven
teen years before, there will be several of
these holes in square foot. The insect,
when it leaves the ground is in chrysals
state. He seeks tree or shrub, immedi-
ately attaches himself to it few feet from
the ground, until he becomes dry, when
he ruptures his shell on the back. works
himself out Of it, gradually expands his
delicate wings to the sun and air. and in
the course of an hour or two is ready for
flight. They are nearly a month before
they leave the ground after they have
reached near the surface, having formed
a kind of chamber at the top of the holes,
apparently for the purpose Of avaiIing
themselves Of the warmth of the sun, as
they descend to the bottom at night and
in cool weather, and ascend TO the top in
daytime in warm dry weather. The top
of the chamber or hole, and its sides, are
nicely cemented for the purpose Of exclud.
ing water.
Soon after the insec. has taken flight, as
above mentioned, the union Of The sexes
takes place, aud in a few days generally
only one or two the females begin TO
deposit their eggs in the small branches
of trees and shrubs. They generally
chose branches about the size of their
own bodies. 1t will be impossible TO de-
scribe the mode of deposilng the eggs
without the aid of drawings. The female
has an instrument called an evipositor,
egg depository by means Of which she
makes an excavation in the branch, to the
depth Of about halfway between the bark
and plth in each excavation she depos-
ties two eggs then withdraws the owl
positor, makes another excavation, depos-
ties two more, aud thus proceeds till all
are deposited. Ii she has not room
enough OH one side, she goes round to the
other, and when she does so the branch
is ap. to perish from the interruption of
the sap: hence we see so many dead
branches on the trees and shrubbery in
the summer OF (" locust year" In from
three TO five days after dcpositng the eggs,
the female dies. The male dies day or
two sooner. They always select living
wood in Which to deposle the eggs.
They are not particular as to the kind of
tree or shrub, except that they generally
avoid all Tesebinthenate trees, such a.
pine, etc. In six or seven weeks after
they are deposited as above, they hatch
the little insects, creeping out of the eX
cavallOns, fall to the grouRd, and immedl-
alely enter the earth in search of food, al
,aching themselves to the radicals of grass
or other vegetable grothes, and feeding on
the emulation from their surfaces. They
have no other mode Of feeding. They
have trunk or proboSis with three capil-
laTies or lairs, which they extend over
the surface of The roots, and merely take
up the exudalions above mentioned and
this is their only food at any period of
their lives. Even the full grown insect
takes its food in the same way. The
young insec, is so small it can scarcely be
seen by the naked eye. After having
descended into the ground they remain
there until their advent, seventeen years
afterwards. The locust is greediy
sought after by all sorts Of fowls and
birds and hogs. from the time they first
leave the ground; and the young insect
is pursued with eaqual avidity by rats
and other deyourers of insects as soon as
they leave the egg.
1t ough. to be stated that this insect i.
not properly called locust. There is
an insect of an entirely different character
that has boren that name some thousand
years; viz: the Egyptian locust. and
several other insects of the same genus
The locust properly so caled) is a grass
hopper, resembling our large grasshop-
pcrs in all respects. Our locust posses.
'es not one feature belonging to the true
locust. How Ridiculous il is, then. for