The Osceola times., 1885-07-18

ehc tuges Oh tne segmentS beneath.
The large form has been observed to
make its appearance from eight TO ten
days earlier from the small form. and
there is not single specimen of the
latter among a number of the thirteen
year brood that captured in NAV. 1865
ward.
1.-The season of their appearance and
disappearance differs somewhat with
the latitude, though not SO materially
as one might suppose. According to
,he records they appeared in 1868 ear
iler IN the South than in the North; but
the last half of May can be set down as
the period during which they emerge
from the ground in any part of the
country, while they generally leave by
the 4th of July In st. Louis County
MO, IN 1868, they commenced issuing ON
the I'D of May, and by the 2Sth of the
same month the woods resounded with
the rafting concourse of the perfect in
sect AS Is the case with great many
other insects. the males make their ap-
pearance several days before the fe-
males, and also disappear sooner
Hence, in the latter part of the cicada
season. though the woods are still full
OF females, the song of but very few
males will be heard.
The larvae are frequently found at n
great depth, Notwithstanding the denial
OF the fact Thus Mr.. Henry Sadorus.
OF Port Byron, ILL.,, who built a house
IN 1892, found that they came up
through the bottom of his cellar in 1854,
the cellar being over five feet deep. and
Mr.. i. Guy. of Sulphur Springs. in
formed me that he had found them at
depth of ten feet below the surface.
when ready to transform they in
yarlably attach themselves TO some OBJ
Ject, and, after the fly has evolved. the
pupa skin is left still adhering. The
operation OF emerging from the pupa
most generally takes place between the
hours of six and nine p. m; and ten
m nutes after the pupa skin bursts on
the back the cicada will have entirely
freed Itself from it Immediately after
leaving the pupa skin the body is soft
and white, with the exception of two
black patches on the prothorax. The
wings are developed in less than an
hour but the natural colorS of the body
are not acquired till several hours have
elapsed. These recently dcyeloped
cicadas are somewhat dull for day or
so after Transforming, but soon become
more active both in flight and song, as
their muscles harden. For those who
are not informed of the fact, will state
that the males alone are capable of
singing, and that they are true ven
| trlloquists, their rafting noise being
produced by a system OF muscles in the
lower part OF the body, which work on
the drums under the wings, alternately
Tightening and loosening them. The
general noise, on approaching the in
tested woods, is combination of that
of a distant threshing machine and
distant frog pond. That which they
make when disturbed mimics a nest Of
young snakes or young birds under
similar circumstances sort of scream.
They can also produce chirp some
what like that of cricket, and yer,
loud, shrill screech, prolonged for iif-
teen or twenty seconds, and gradually
increasing in force and then decreasing
"After pairing, the females deposit
their eggs in the twigs of different trees;
and though for this purpose they seem
to prefer the oaks and the hickories,
they oyiposit in almost every kind of de-
ciduous tree, and even in herbaceous
plants and in evergreens. / have seen
their eggs in the chestnut, locust, viii.
low and cottonwood, in peach twigS Of
not more than one-eighth of an inch in
diameter
"The eggs hatch between the 20th of
July and the lst of August, or in about
six weeks after being deposited. The
newly-hatched larva differs considera-
bly, from the full-grown larva, but
principally in having much longer and
distinctly eight-jointed antennP. 1t is
quite active, and moves its antennG as
deXterously and as rapidly as does an
ant. As soon as it has extricated itself
from an exceedingly fine membrane,
which still envelops it after it has left
the egg, our little cicada drops delib-
erately to the ground; its specific grav-
ity being SO insignificant that it falls
through the air as gently and as softly
as does feather.
upon leaving the ground to trans
form, the pupH are attacked by differ
ent quadrupcds, by birds and by clnni-
bal insects, such as ground beetles.
dragon flies, soldier bugs, etc, while
hogs and poultry of all kinds greedily
feast upon them. In the perfect fly
state they are attacked by at least one
insect parasite, for dipterous maggots
(the larvR, probably, of some tachina
fly) may occasionally be found in their
bodies. In this state they are also
often attacked by a peculiar fungus.
One male specimen, re-
ceiyed in 1868 from Pennsylvania, was
affected by fungus, the internal parts of
the abdomen being converted into what
appeared TO be brown mold.
:" 1t is astonishing what wide
spread fear exists of the cicada on ac-
count of its supposed singing power
There is scarcely a paper in the United
States but published some account of a
locust sting in 1868, while unpub-
lished accounts were equally numerous.
One of the editors of the st. Louis Re
publican was kind enough to clip out
for me all accounts of such stings
which he found in its numerous ex-
changes, and the number which had
accumulated before the end of the
locust season was truly surprising.
Some people even denied themselves
the pleasure of eating blackberres,
raspberries and other fruits because
they feared these fruits had been
poisoned by the eggs of cicadas, while
Others believed that the insects
poisoned water. | have endeavored to
trace number of these reports, but