The Osceola times., 1885-07-18

t'NinS tHc Clcdua D6nlnu, Nnlcn IN aO-
sence of the hornet would very natural.
ly be accused of the sting An allied
species of digger wasp has been ac-
tually observed by MIR. Rathvon to
carry of a few belated individuals OF
the periodical cicada; but the usual prey
OF both these species is the larger "a.
nual cicada, and they both occur,too
late in the season to be the cause Sf all
the singing we hear of.
"Ihe ovipositor of the female Is GER
ta'nly capable of inilicting a wound,
but the cicada is anything but pugna-
cious, and when not In the act of owl.
posting this instrument is securely in
closed in its sheath. That this is the
singing instrument is rendered ex.
tremely doubtful for the following rea-
sons: D All the singing we hear OF
has been done suddenly. while the in
sertion of the oyipositor would neces-
sarily be gradual operation, requiring
at least one minute; (2) the real func-
ton OF the ovipositor is TO convey an
egg into the wound il makes. and
have been unable to trace single case
where eggs were found in the flesh.
"The beak is an organ which both
sexes OF the cicada posses, and by which
they take their nourishment | have
seen them insert it into and extricate il
from the branches of different trees,
and know that the operation is quite
rapid. and that the instrument must be
quite sharp and strong. All the more
authentic eases of singing indicate this
to be the instrument, and it is quite
likely that, Just as the sting of bee
VIII affect some persons nigh unto
death, and have no effect Whatever on
others, so the puncture of the beak Of a
clcada will be more serious to some per-
sons than to Others. That there is no
poison gland attached to this beak is no
argument against its singing power, for
several true bugs are known to produce
severe stings by their beaks, while the
hairs and spines of some caterpillars
have similar power
"lhe truth OF the matter seems to be
that. while they do puncture and derive
nourlshment from the roots Of trees,
they rarely, if ever, produce in this way
any serious injury. This may be due TO
tn fact of their slow development and
the necessarily small amount of nour-
ishment taken at one time. While
have not been able to prove. as asserted
by DIR. Smith, that the bristles at the
top of the proboscideal sheath or labium
are ever used as vehicles for nourish-
ment, il is true that the larva is far
more often found in cavity away from
any root whatever, than it is fastened
to roots. Yet often in digging for and
studying this insect in its larva state.
snce my 1868 article was written,
have found the larvae with beaks in
serted; in fact tney will frequently
hang by the beak after they are dug
up, and the rootlets of our forest trees,
where cicadas abound, show scars and
often slight swellings such as one night
expect from the punctures.
In the perfect state, however, the fe-
male is capable of doing great injury to
trees by hacking up their twigs, in the
process of ovipositing. and although
their injury in the forest is not general
.y felt. it is a very different thing in our
orchards, and especially in the nursery.
''lt also appears that in some instances
they hjure trees by the insertion of
their beaks for nourishment, for Mr..
Gustavus Pauls, of Eureka, has a
young apricot tree which was so thor
oughly punctured in this manner that
he took a gallon of congulated sap
from it, and he attributes the death of
some of his trees to this cause. | am
convinced, however, that injury of this
kind Is comparatively rare.
"On June IL, 1868. | was sent for by
four different parties in St Louis
County who wished me to try and save
their trees from the ruinous work of
these cicadas, which had by this time
begun to deposit their eggs in earnest.
| found that when the wind was high
they could, by its aid, be driven to some
extent, but that without its aid they
could not be driven at, all. as, when
started, they are Just as likely to fly be
hind rs before you. tried lye, white
wash and sulphur, air Stacked lime and
finally carbolic acid. and found that
none OF these mixtures would affect
them. Indeed, after experiments in
volving about two hundred dollars, ]
am convinced that there is no available
way of entirely preventing this ruinous
work when once they commence to owl
post.
"But it becomes a hopeless task to try
to stay their disastrous work when
once they have acquired full power of
flight; though, while in their feeble and
helpless condition. as they leave the
ground, they can not only be destroyed
TO far greater advantage by human
agency but hogs and poultry of all
kinds eagerly devour them. There
were, it is true, many accounts anoat
in 1868 of hogs being poisoned by
them, and though it is not impossible
that one was occasionally killed by
overglutting. such cases were very rare
indeed