Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1885-07-07
COMING OF THE o1CADE.
The Seventeen-Year Loousts-A
Description Of the Insects
Which Live for Love and
Eating.

OF the country tncfe is now coICcIt
such as is heard only once in seven
teen years. The air is filled with a
something like what would
be made by two or three hundred
large swarms of bees, except that the
pitch is a little lower and the occa
sional obhgatos or solos are those Of
bass instruments. On looking at the
trees the musicians are easily discern
able. They arc the "seventcen-year
locusls," thousands of which arc seen
on single limb of the trees, while
others circle clumsily about i'll the
air, Under foot and on the trunk of
every tree, on nearly every leaf and
blade of grass are the discarded over
coats of these small musicians, whose
song is always an address to their
lady loves for they are rare lovers,
these clumsy fellows. The tender
passion is the sole object of their eX-
istence. Love gives them wings ana
they flaunt themselves in the sun for
a brief space, like some gay Lothario,
and like him they dissipate every
energy, and then fall to the earth and
die. When examined after death,
they are found to be mere shell,
scarcely more substantial than that
they cast Off when they began their
alnatory career. 1t is true that the
female, before her death, goes TO some
trouble to drill holes in the bark Of
trees for the purpose Of laying her
eggs, after which she, too, falls and
dies, leaving as empty a carcass as
that of her mate. For seventeen
years have these hopeful creatures
been waiting in The dark recesscs OF
the earth for the time when fate will
throw them together, and for seven
teen years have they been laying III u
goodiy supply of food, so that when
their honeymoon shall arrive they
may waste 10 time in idle, vulgar
feeding, but may devote themselves
entirely TO the cultivation OF each
Others acquaintance ;and so,lhrough
affection, they starve to death.
There seems to be no reason for
calling these insects locusls, any
more Than there would be for calling
bat Il biru. They belong to the
family of cicddg commonly called
harvest flies. In particular, this
species is called The ctcadt Septende-
elm, or sevemtccn-ycar cicddd. They
have broad, short bodies, broad heads,
large red eyes on each side Of The
head aud three eyelcts on the crown.
Their wings and wina- overs are
Transparent and veined, their bodies
are brown, their legs reddish brown
and rather inadequate for their bod
les, with no power OF springing like
grasshoppers. The male is the mu'
sician Inc has pair of ketlle-drum'
one on each side of the body behind
the hard lhoraX and just back OF tht
wings In the cavity inside OF The
drum are cords fastened to the inside
of the plated parchment. BY con
tracing and relaxing these muscles
the drum heads are made to emit the
sound. The intensity Of the sound il
increased by the cavities within th'
body.
The insect has been known III thi
country certainly since 1888, and ha
been seen ut regular intervals sine
then, though it does not appear at al
places in the same year. In each 10
cality where it has appeared, how
ever, it returns at intervals Of abou
seventeen years. The coming o
these insects thus regularly and il
such great swarms was probably lh
cause of their being called locust'
| suggesting as they do by these mean
the migratory locusts of the Easter
| world, the flights of which have bee
l so destructive to vegetation and oi
ten so pestilential in their effect
The sevonteen-year cicada produce
a no such terrible results; in fact, til
chief alarm at his presence probabl
C grows out of his name, which cause
him to be mentally associated wit
= Egyptian plaques, and African an
s Asiauc famines. The cicada takes h
n food under ground, and when Wis
bic is not even thinking Of eatin
The only damage done by this Vi
riety after it reaches its perfect stat
d is the damage done by the fema
:. in laying her eggs. This is an 1
leresting process.
e The female has a conical body III
Ie der which she has longitudln
s. chauuel for the reception OF an /
1t strunent with which she pierces Il
lie limbs of trees. This piercer consi'
n of three parts, the inner one fifth
k. into groves of the outer two. Il
outer parts are provided with sa'
like teeth the central part is spea
pointed and is used as a boring /
strument. The female selects smi
twig, clasps it on both sides with h
legs and then sets her saws and aug
to work thrusting them obliquely !
to the bark and wood in the dirccti
~ of the fiber. The action of the sa'
a. a. leaves iibrous cover for the egs
~ ~ The eggs are conveyed into the III
u III through the piercer and are deposit
u u in pairs, the woody fiber serving
II \ keep them seperate. The nests &C
taims fifteen Or twenty eggs ea'
% Then the insect moves on aud max
NJ another nest, and continues to do
-, until she has stocked the limb, VIII
u. she goes to another, She lays fc
~ '.V or five hundred eggs, taking abe
=, fifteen minutes to nest After
IL while she gets tired, tries TO fly, la
10 10 the ground and dies. The lit
i'o i'o limb has probable been killed by I
ne cutting it has received and IA g
~ wind will throw it to the grou
iS' 10 where the young hatch out in MOI
~. 10 or so. Ii the limb does not fall
~ young grubs, which are lively, thou
'' II" only about as big AS an ant, are
III by instinct to throw themselves
:. the limb 10 the ground trusting
az az blind luck to bring up safely Sol
az, 90 where and often getting wrecked
on their unreasoning confidence. WI
they touch the earth they at o
ay ,,0 bury themselves and begin to h
ny around for the root OF some II
t;a aI pride-of-the-orchard peach or p
HIS tree. Finding this, they stick II
o.o sucker into the root and begin Il
y, cto seyenteen-year lunch. Their o
io " meat and drink is the juice Of Sc
y, " succulent plant Some times Il