The Dickinson press., 1889-08-17
FOR SEVENTEEN YEARS.
LOCUSTS BURROW THAT LONG, BUT
HAVE ONE LONG GAY SEASON.
Facts About the Brilliant Career of This


HAVE ONE LONG GAY SEASON.
Cnmitisatcd Nuisancc-Thc Females
Widowed Early, Don't Fine Away,
but Get Right Down to business.
The seventeen year locusts pass seven
teen years under ground, and then, rs if
by prcconccrtcd arrangement, make
their appearance out of little holes al
most simultaneously, and in numbers
that run far up into the millions. This
is always done after sunset, and by 0
o'clock the same night the hordcs have
appeared. They arc not very active
when they first appear out of their sub
tcfrancan homes, but they make what
speed they can toward the nearest trees,
and climb them to the lower leaves,
where they fairly swarm, sometimes us
many as thirteen pup;r clinging to one
oak leaf Those which are bclatcd either
cling TO the bark of the trcc or-if too
late to get that far-fasten their clawsto
the first convenient object, and wait for
the grand transformation which is to
convert them from ugly crawling things
Of silence and gloom into gorgeous things
Of the air and the sunlight, the males
endowed with musical powers, and 10th
sexes clad in gay suits of orange and
black, with gossamcr wings of iridcsccnt
hucs But Il few minutes clapsc after
the pupe have secured Il resting place
before the dull skins begin TO crack along
the back.
COMING WITH DRUMS.
Then the imprisoned cicada works hi,
way to freedom, at the first Il soft, white
thing, hut quickly developing wings and
becoming hard and active. For the most
part it does not require more than TWEEN
ty minutes for the soft prisoner To be-
come Il perfect cicada, though sometimes
IN hour or more is consumed in the pro-
cess, and several hours are required To
produce the final color. The males are
the first by several days to appear, and
they herald the first dawn of their new
existence 10y trying their drums; for
their musical apparatus is in effect drum
like. AT first their music is rather feeble,
but in n little while it secures the proper
tone and force, and then it scarcely
knows amy rest. Nor do they drum at
haphazar,l, but rather in unison. and So
it is that the noise of the swarl,ls can he
heard fullya mile away, and is positive
ly dcafcninS when close at hand
The male cicada eats very liillc while
waiting for the female to appear, and
that little is in the form of sap from the
trees, the bark of which is slightly
puncturc'l for the juice to cXudc The
coming of the females is hailed by the
waiting lords with an increased noise,
and for Il fcw days tho air is thick with
the flying insects, so much SO that the
sun is o,sclrcd for small areas Ina frw'
days after this the males die gradually,
and the females busy themselves with
the task of egg laying. Each female
will lay in the ncghborhool of 500 eggs,
and the manner in which she lays them
is really remarkable. She selects young
twigs only, and, with II singular appl-
regular order along tho under side of the
twigs, into which the eggs are regularly
and carefully placed. Each nest con-
tains about twenty eggs, The ovipositor
is II most ingenious contrivancc, and is
composed of three parts, one part being
an awl with which TO pierce, and two
parts being opposing saws with which To
cut. And after the nest las been cut
out of the twig the oyipositor acts us u
tube, down which tho egg is propelled
} into its place in tho nest.
TWENTY FEET UNDER GROUND.
} After the cicada has laid all her eggs
} she loses her strength and dies. She has
lived a drcary underground existence of
seventeen years, to enjoy Il brief life OF
few weeks in tho air and sunshine.
And now the new brood is started on a
seventeen years of life. The eggs hatch
in about six weeks, and the baby cicada
is about onc-sixtccnth Of an inch long and
; very active, though SO light that it falls
TO the ground from u height sometimes
of 100 feet without the least injury. 1t
has Il pair of strong claws with which tn
dig hole in tho ground, and it puts
them into uso Immediately. Down it
years burrows and burrows, sometimes
going as deep rs twenty feet, and some
times not onc-qIlarter of that, but chang
ing its skin twenty-five or thirty times
during its underground travels. 1t lives
on tho juices extracted from roots, and
sometimes, but not often, in jurcs trees.
When the time for its temperance
Oil earth comes near again it gradually
works its way toward the surface, it
finally dissa tunnel upward to the sur
face, going up occasionally to peer about
and discover by signs known to itself
: when the Goth OF May has come. if the
) soil is marshy where it has elected to
appear, or if heavy rains are prevailing
1t the time, it has been known to build
; t,.rrot six inches above ground, with q
. .oorph cap, so curved that it can 20 VI
, INTO it and be in safety from drowning
in case Of food. 1t is at the time whcl
it cmclycs from tho earth, after its lone
soiourn there, that it is in most danger
from enemies; for then the hog ant
other animals find it Il toothsomc NOR
sci, and dcvour it in great numbers. N
u later period, when it has gained tho
power of flight, it becomes the prey ot
some birds, though it was reserved fol
the little English sparrow to make Tho
most determined and destructive wal
upon it. SO ravcncusly have the spar
5 rows been known to dcvour the insects
: that in the height Of the cicada season ;
few years ago the dir would frequently
be full of the floating gossancr wing
Of the devoured inscct.-Cor. Harper
9 Weekly.
Maybe lie Knows Where All the I'i:s IT,.
A man was arrested in Cincinnati who
during Il busy life on the street for cigh