The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1888-08-25
THE pERIopIcAL clcApA.


THE PERIODICAL ClCADA.
the Mature ana Habits Of the seventssn-
Year Locust. tslI.'.i IS
The insect known as the seventeen
year locust Is not member Of the To-
Gust but OF the cicada family, and It's
correct name Is the harvest fly. The
insect is remarkable chiefly for the
length OF time necessary for 1t 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 tho country
nearly every year, and perhaps q few
OF the insects may appear anywhere,
during any summer, but the lineal de-
scendants 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 Oft this
cicada are deposited in the twigs of
trees, the female piercing hole to re-
ceive them. Here they hatch in about
six weeks, and the young larvae fall to
the ground, where 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 a few hours the pupa skin in
which they are enveloped breaks, and
the perfect insect comes forth. The
ground is often riddled like o
honeycomb by these insects, they ap-
pear in such numbers, and were their
lives prolonged they would undoubtedly
do great injury to vegetation, but for
tunately their existence is but epheme-
raj. After emergence from the pupa
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 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 complete digestive
system-though she is smaller in size
than the male-and she feeds upon the
young foliage, but fortunately she lives
but few weeks. She bores into small
twigs, laying about sixteen eggs in
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 fecundity 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 plow, 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 1t very well.
The periodical nature of this insect
has been known for two hundred years,
a description of seventeen-year
locust brood being on record as far
back as 1858. But it remained for the
present entomologist of the United
States, Professor c. v. Riley, to dis.
cover, by comparison of the dates OF
their appearance, that one Of the
cicada species had period Of trans
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 '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-
yond it."-Chicago Inter Ocean.