Mountain Home bulletin. (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1888-1889, 1888-10-13
THE PERIODICAL. ClCADA.
The Nature and Habits OF the Seventeen.
Year Locust.


The Nature and Habits OF the Seventeen.
Year Locust.
The insect known as the seventeen.
year locust Is not a member of the lo-
Gust but Of the cicada family, and it
correct name is the harvest fly. The
insect is remarkable chiefly for the
length OF time necessary for it to pass
from the larva to the pupa state
seventeen years in one species, thir-
teen in another. The periodical cicada
appears in some parts of the country
nearly every year, and perhaps n few
OF the insects may appear anywhere,
during any summer. but the lineal de-
sccndants of each swarm appear only
every seventeen or thirteen years. The
popular name of locust was doubtless
derived from this appearance in large
swarms after long intervals of time.
like the locusts of the East. In its per-
feet state this harvest fly is of a black
color the edge and veins of its two
pair of wings being orange color.
Near the tips of the outer wings Is
a zig-zag line in the form of the
letter w, which the superstitious
imagine indicates approaching war.
AS this is seen on every insect, and as
| some of the insects appear in some
part Of the country every year, the
prophecy is considerably weakened by
its frequent repetition. The eggs OF this
cicada are deposited in the twigs Of
trees, the female piercing II hole to re-
ceive them. Here they hatch in about
six weeks, and the young LARVAE fall to
the ground, whore they instantly bury
themselves by means Of their fore feet.
They live in the ground during their
long period of growth, seldom burrow-
ing more than three to four feet below
the surface. They follow the roots OF
plants in their subterranean move
ments, and live upon the juices Of these,
thus sometimes proving quite injurious
to vegetation. AS the time of their
transformation approaches they grad
ually make their way to the surface OF
the earth through long circuitous pas
sages. They burst through the crust
during the warm nights of the spring
and early summer and ascend trees
and in II few hours the pupa skin il
which they are envelopcd breaks, anC
the perfect insect comes forth. Th,
ground is often rildlcd like 1
honeycomb by these insects. they ap
pear in such numbers, and were theil
lives prolonged they would undoubtedly i
do great injury to vegetation. but for
tunately their existence is but epheme
ral. After emergence from the pup;
skin. the males perform the act OF repro
duction, and soon die. They have
! scarcely trace OF digestive apparatus
and it is supposed that they do not ea
| any thing in their brief lives. The re
; productive organs of both male an,
4 female are fully developed on thei
birth into the winged form. The male
G carry over 500 sperm cells, and eacl
female lays from 400 to 500 eggs
. The female has complete digestiv
L system though she is smaller in siz
. than the male-and she feeds upon tn
u young foliage, but fortunately she live
2 but IL few weeks She bores into smal
> twigs, laying about sixteen eggs in
G hole, and continues her work until he
Il eggs are deposited; by this time she /
so exhausted that she falls from tn
tree and soon dies. 1t is fortunate
considering the great fecundity OF thi
!. insect, that ants and other flies fee
. upon its eggs, and that blactbird'
woodpeckers, frogs, toads and hog
; dovour the larvae when they fall to tn
ground upon being Matched, or ar
. turned up in half-developed state b
the plow, also that it only appears 4
: long intervals. The twigs puncture
to receive eggs usually die and fa
q from the tree, and in this way tn
:, cicada does much harm TO fruit tree
u though forest trees bear it very wei
Il The periodical nature of this inset
u has been known for two hundred years
description of n scventeen-yca
u locust brood being on record as fa
q back as 1888 But it remained for tn
, present entomologist of the Unite
: States, Professor G. " Riley, to di'
:" cover, by comparison of the dates {
u their appearance, that one OF tn
> cicada species had a period OF trans
II formation five years shorter than tn
9 other Prof. Riley published in lSS
y chronological statement of all tn
$ periodical cicada broods that had bee
: recorded up to that year, giving date
d of their future appearance. He say
= that in general terms .'the seventeen
e year broods may be said to belong t
g the Northern. and the thirteen-yea
,f broods to the Southern States. the d
O viding line being about latitude J
n degrees, though in some places tn
;, saventeen-year broods extend belo'
, this line. while in Illinois the thirteer
II year broods run up considerably be
yond it. .''-Chicago Inter Ocean.
Marvellous Brute Sagacity.