The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-09-22
a CHAPTER ON "LocusTs."
uc,bods Of Making -Eurrow'hs In
a.. crounsi-A PrxxiInc Question.


including the seyenteen-yts~ a"o we
,J;r,een-vear ''locusts. winch are no
Iocusts at al. but real cicadas. 1he one
,,o, makes most of our sumner music is
~, a-,.,,sl visitor. They ail live IN the
-. ste most of their lives. then come
our ri tie ground crawl up convenient
trnc f.s,en in their claws, rip open their
slins Along the back, and then, 10y a
series Of vat.ent efforts, crawl out. or
lac, out Of the crack, perfect insects
The have now long gauzy wings, WIDE
heads ard handsome. large eyes. when
they firt emerge their wings arc folded
and wet. Their first need is TO dry OIL ;
So their wings are slowly unfolded and
famed gently against the air. Mean
whilc the juicy creature evaporates q
good deal Of its bulk, and is soon well
shaped for fight.
In about one hour it IL ready for fight,
and takes a perch higher among the
limbs when the males begin at once TO
strike their love notes. The music IS
made by the vibration of chords in hol-
low in their sides, behind their wings,
the vibration striking a tightly drawn
membrane above them. The rapid alter
nation Of contracting and relaxing those
chords produces the noise which SIC call
a buzz or whiz. The seventeen and thlr-
teen wear cicadas, or "locusts. come
out about q month earlier, and their hab-
its while outside, as true insects, are
about the same as those Of the annual
visitor. They eat and lay eggs for about
six weeks, and then die. The stridulat-
ing noises are not heard beyond August.
have seen q whole handful of the de-
serted cases or skins of the pup@ left
sticking on the trees about our cottage.
1t is curious how perfect they s-nd, and
yet how empty 1t is still more curious
to observe the contrast between the sense
organs Of the perfect insect and those OF
the pup@ The latter has spent his life
under ground and is shaped for that sort
Of life, anaTow head for pushing through
he dirt, sharp claws to dig with and no
wings. Hc is peculiarly fitted with organs
10 secrete abundant moisture and to eX-
crete l.. 30 that as he tunnels his burrows
are made waterproof with sticky excre-
ton. AS his time for egress comes his
skin hardens and he can no longer freely
execute. 50 that the insect that is shaped
inside is sappy, wet affair when 1t first
tmcrges.
We can trace these changes in the
lives Of creatures. but can we, after al,
explain theml There are no mechanical
laws that can account for the transfer
nation from underground borrowers to
big eyed broad winged flying creatures.
Still more impossible is il 10 explain the
law or instinct Of love that brings the
sexes together and begins another round
Of existence. The mother cicada lays
her eggs near the tips Of limbs Of ash, or
hickory, or oak. or maple trees. In
about six weeks they hatch, and imme-
diltelv fall or jump TO the ground and
begin to burrow. The seventeen year
sort burrows during al that number Of
years and then comes ont for its brief
life Of wings and love. But the annual
SOFT. Of course. only burrows for about
ten months or a little more.
wish you would explain to me how
they ever learned to do this work. either
below or above ground John tells me
to read Darwin and / will find that it
came about by a natural process, or
natural selection. That the first ci-
cada was q creature that tried to hide
itself, and burrowed slightly Those
that burcwed best were safest, and SO
the burrowing instinct was slowly
formed. But how about these seventeen
year creatures? / suppose a good deal Of
cur trouble in thinking out these prob-
lens Is because we have no idea how tiny
brains or mere nerve centers think aud
what they are capable of purposing
Very clearly, we do not do SO much Of
the thinking Of the world as we some
times suppose that We do And those
people who deny reason Of any sort to
the a. snal world simply show that they
themselves are unable 70 reason. There
is thought all about It's, and planning,
and memory, and deliberate adaptation.
When YOU say the insect works by IN
stinct, you have still to explain instinct.
Mary E. Spencer in Globe-Democrat