The Red Cloud chief., 1888-08-24
THE PERIODICAL cicaDA.
The Nature ant g.sh'ts OF .he Scr-n.e eE-
Year Locust.

The Nature ant s.si'ts OF .Le Scr-n.c eE'
Year Locust.
The Insect know. - the seventeen
year locust Is lot a member OF the 10
Gust out of the cicada family. and it,
correc: name Is the harvest hy. The
insec; is remarkable chiefly for the
length Of tine 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 a few
OF the Insects may appear anywhere,
during any summer. but the Iireal de-
scendants of each swarm appear only
every seventeen or thirteen years Tho
popular name Of locust was doubtless
derived from this appearance in. large
warns after long intervals Of time.
like the locUsts of the East. In its per-
feet state this harvest hy is Of black
color, the edge and veins vi its two
pair OF wings being orange color.
Near the tips OF the Oute- 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 soma
part of the country every year. the
prophecy Is considerably weakened by
its frequent repetition. The this
cicada are deposited in the twigs Of
trees, the female piercing n hole TO re-
ceive them. Here they hatch in about
six weeks. and the young Larvae fall -
the ground. where they instantly bury
themselves by mean 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 sub:erranean 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
uaHy make their way 10 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 q few hours the pupa skin in
which they are ~envelOped breaks. and
the perfect insect ZONES forth. The
ground is often riddled like u
honeycomb by these insects. they ap-
pear in such numbers. and We're their
lives prolonged they would undoubtedly
do great injury TO vegetation. but for
~tuna,ely their existence Is but ephemc-
RI. After energence from the pupa
skin. the males perform the act of repro
duction. and soon die. They have
scarcely a rac OF digestive apparatus.
and it is supposed that they do not eat
any thing in their brief lives. The re-
productive organs of both male and
female are fully developed on their
birth into the winged form. The males
carry over 500 sperm cells. and each
female lays from 400 to 500 eggs.
The female has a complete digestive
system-thOugh she is smaller in size
than the male-and she feeds upon the
young foliage. but fortunately she lives
but a few weeks. She bores into small
twigs. laying about sixteen eggs in q
hole. and continues her work until her
eggs are deposited; by this time she is
so exhausted that she falls from the
tree and soon dies. It Is fortunate.
considering the great tecuudity Of this
insect. that ants and other flies feed
upon its eggs. and that blackbirds.
woodpeckers. frogs. tOads and hogs
devour the larvae when they fall TO the
ground upon being Matched. Or are
turned up in a half-developed state by
the pillow. also that it only appears at
long intervals. The twigs punctured
to receive eggs usually die and fall
from the tree. and in this way the
cicada does much harm to fruit trees,
though forest trees bear il very well.
The periodical nature OF this insect
has been known for two hundred years.
a description OF a seventeen-year
locust brood being on record as far
back as 1888. But it remained for the
present entomoloyist Of the United
States. Professor L. V. Riley. to dis
cover. by comparison of the dates OF
their appearance, that One Of the
cicada species had a period Of rams
formation five years shorter than the
other. Prof. Riley published in 1885
a chronological statement Of all the
periodical cicada broods that had been
recorded up to that year. giving dates
of their future appearance. He says
that in general terms 1.-The seventeen
year broods may be said to belong to
the Northern. and the thirteen-year
broods to the Southern States. the di-
viding line being about latitude 80
degrees, though in some places the
seventeen-year broOds extend below
this line, while in Illinois the thirteen
year broOds run up considerably be-
You'd il. "-Chicago Inter Ocean.