The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-07-18
LOCUSTS.
INSECTS THAT INFEST THE
LAND AT STATED PERIODS.
The Pest as Described by an Ento'
mologist-Evolution and Trans
formation of the Pupas-
Their Visits Inevitable.

One of the most remarkable thing about
the seventeen-year locust is that it is nc
locust at ALL Professor o. S. Wcstcott,
known among the scho!astics of Chicago,
declares the Herald, as the great "bug
man." has made the seventeen-year locust
special study.
THE Rocky Mountain locust is Q
Iocust,' remarked the Professor. "lt's
plague for the vegetables, but it fur
nishes a sort of animal food in return.
John the Baptist lived on this kind OF
locust, taking them with dressing OF
wild honey. Professor G. V. Riley, the
United States entomologist, fed on
locusts as meat food for week, and he
seems to have relished the dish in a great
way, though he complains that the hind
legs are rather chippy. think the
farmers out West, instead of complaining
about starvation caused by the locusts,
ought to have gathered, cooked and
eaten them.
"The seventeen-year locust is not,
properly speaking, a locust. Clcada
septemdecim is the correct name of the
insect. 1t belongs to the same family
as the species called harvest fly, though
the latter is never so abundant as the
former. The seventeen-year fellows
were here in III and '54, and they were
prophesied for the present year with the
! same assurance as an astronomer predicts
an eclipse. The cicada-to keep the
proper name, does not devastate crops
at all. 1t prunes the trees, so to speak,
! defoliates the smaller limbs and twigs,
but even here it docs no great harm.
The male puts in an appearance first, and
later on comes the female. The latter
stays a little longer than the former.
Either of them stays only about thirty
days. That is the working period of
their career, the balance of the seventeen
years is spent in operations necessary for
the propagation of the species. The
latter interesting part of their existence
may be briefly described as follows: The
eggs are deposited by the female in
small twigs. Under the invasion of the
foreign substance the twigs die and
break off. While on the ground, the
larve hatch from the eggs and crawl in
to the ground, where they thrive and
grow for seventeen years. Reaching
maturity, the pupa emerges from tie
ground, climbs up the nearest tree or
shrub and attaches itself to the bark.
Then its back splits open and the winged
insect works its way out to liberty,
leaving the lifeless case attached to the
shrub"
1t has been discovered that besides
the seventeen-year broods, the appear
ance of which was recorded as long ago
as 1888, there are also thirteen-year
broods; and that, though both some
times occur in the same States, yet, in
general terms, the seventean-year broods
may be said to belong to the Northern,
and the thirteen-year broods to the
Southern States. It so happened that
the largest broods of either species ap.
peared simultaneously in the summer of
1858. Such an event had up to that
time not taken place since 1G47, nor will
it occur again till 20S0. There are abso-
lutely no perceptible differences between
the two brood5, other than in the time
of maturing.
The true cicada septemdecim will
measure on an average one and one half
inches from the head to the tip of the
closed wings, and almost always expands
over three inches. The whole under
side of the abdomen is more or less of a
dull orangc-brown color, and in the male
more especially, four or five of the seq
ments are edged with the same color on
the back. The smaller form is on an
average only two.thirds as large, and
usually lacks the dull orange abdominal
marks. The two forms show no disposi.
tion to associate together, and produce
very different sounds. They frequently
appear in small numbers the year before
or the year after their proper period.
In regard to the burying process spoken
of by Professor Westcott it has
been observed that after series
OF heavy rains, the pupas have continued
their galleries, usually subterraneann,
to from four to six inches above ground,
leaving an orifce of egress even with the
surface. In the upper end of these
chambers the pupas have been found
awaiting their approaching time of
change. They then backed down to be-
low the level of the earth, came up to
the ori6ce as usual and underwent their
regular transformation When ready to
transform the pupas invariably attach
themselves to some object, and after the
fly has evolved the pupa skin is left ad-
herring. The operation of emerging from
the papa generally takes place between
the hours of six and nine P. NJ, and ten
minutes after the pupa skin bursts on the
back the cicada will have entirely freed
itself from it. Immediately after leaving
the pupa skin the body is soft and white,
with the exception of black patch on
the prothorax. The wings are developed
in less than an hour, but the natural
colors of the body a,e not acquired till
several hours have elapsed. These le-
Gently developed cicades are somewhat
dull for day or so after transforming,
but soon become more active, both in
flight and song, as their muscles harden.
The males alone are capable of "sing-
ing" and they are true ventriloquists.
The rattling noise they make is pro-
duced by system of muscles in the
lower part of the body which work on
the drums under the wings by alternately
Tightening and loosening them.
Jast as the sting of a bee will affect
some persons nigh unto death and have
no effect whatever on others, so the pune
ture of the beak of cicada will be more
serious with some than with others,
though there is no poison gland attached
to the beak.
Irishmen and the Sea.