Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1898-06-09
stl 81 ~ y EalsG bss
I CnG ssYentsens Sears lDsllst.


40 SsYellts eiis = ear sDtl,s /.
CbEMsoN coaIEay s. g., 5 aneT.
81 IsDir0fs IS.eoS RG 8 1URIERsY Having
secured two specimens of t;les Tlocusts
that have appeared In, sasils anlmbers on
Stump Hodse Mountain, the same were
sabmitted to Prof. Ernest Walker, ento.
mologist hero, for his examination. He
makes tho following interesting report,
& Very, truly yours, I55 s5' 4
n DANIEL IsAyENEL.
lam particularly glad to see tho speoi.
mons Of .cicada, not because I am glad
the insect 10 present, so much as because
1t has boon expected, and am glad to
know il has at last arrived. Astronoi
mers can, years beforehand, predict
eolipses of the sun, or the appearance in
the heavens of certain comets, SO the
student of insect life can, in tho present
case. toll somo years in advance when
this insect is to make its appearance.
1t is tho cicada septomdooin or "seven.
teon-year locust, ono of the larger
species Of the order hemiptera and sub.
order hOmOptera. Several specios COR
stituto the family oicadidp, of which the
''seventeen-year locust" and the "dog-
day harvest-ny',' are tho most familiar
and largest. The latter is the larger and
stoutor. It's body Is dark, marked with
pearance on the undorside Of tho abdo-
men. It's shrill sharp trill is q familiar
sound IN mid summer. This species re-
quires only two years to complete its life
history Or development from. the egg.
But it's relative, tho cioada soptendec i'm,
is remarkable frnn. the fact that seYon-
teen years are required from tho time
I, NO. R,,,{ 1ps Il s,cn l,o,
reached tho adult or mature form. Tho
insects which arc present will deposit
their eggsin littlo Sits made in the twigs
of various trees. In about six weeks
these will hatch into small grubs known
as nymphs. These drop immediately TO
tho ground and 60 down flooding on tho
roots of shrubs and trees. Meanwhile
for it lives only fow weeks. Tho
nymphs 1.-Two In tho grorn like monks
hidden away from tho world for scvcn-
tcen years. At tho end of this time they
burrow toward tho surface and omorge
when the weather is warm and fine. On
coming forth tho imperfect form attaches
itsolf to somo plant or tho bark of sono
tree, tho skin splits down the back and
tho creature which emergos, young and
and is a full grown locust.
A curious fact is that tho ma!o only
has tho musical organ, or tho power of
singing. This arrangement is men,
branous drum-liko organ at tho base of
the abdomen, which, by boing pressed in
and out rapidly, produces tho shrll,
rasping noto. 80 familiar in summer.
Having paired, tho fomalo deposits her
eggs, and soon tho whole brood is gonc,
not TO appear again until tho end of SOW
Cntccn years. .
Only n fow years ago the Gf0 history
Of this insect was impGrfcctly under
stood. We arc Indebted to tho lato DR..
q. V. Bilcy, U. S. Entomologist, mainly
ttef tho knowledge now accessible con
Corning tho various broods. OF these it
is linU wn that there arc at least twenty
two. These broods appear in different
years, so that in various parts of tho
country tho cicada may be present almost
cvcry year. But each brood appears
only at tho end of its long scclusion. In
tho North tho full poriod of seventeen
years is required for n given brood. In
tho South, however, tho climatic influ-
once has shortened this period to thir-
teen years.
BY way of illustrations: Brood 1 ap-
pcarcd last in 1893 in Massachusetts and
Connecticut. 1t will not appear again
Brood XVIII is of the thrtcon-y year
raco. 1t appeared last in 1894 and will
occur again in 1907. 1t covers Southern
Illinois and most Of Arkansas, Indian
Territory, kentucky, Tennessee, Mis-
souri,, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama,
Georgia, North and South Carolina.
The present brood is probably of Brood
XVII, and has been hidden since about
1881 or 1885. am as yet not quito sure
on this point, but think likely the for
mcr date is the right one.
The insect is not as serious pest as
might be supposed. Tho masuro form
works its injury by Sitting twigs in
order to deposit its eggs. This is really
serious only in tho case of u young
orchard or other young trees. The grub,
or nymph, Injuries roots, but tho damage
is not particularly noticeable.
Nothing can be done to kill the insects
in tho way of spraying or poisoning
them. We simply have to "put up'
with them.
Hogs arc very fond of tho grubs, and
infested land might DO pastured with
these animals. Various birds and pre-
daccous insects arc fond Of them, and in
parasites. Ono of tho best things which
can be said for tho English sparrow is
that it seems to hold grudge against
these insects and destroys them in
immense numbers. This is especially
true near cities. Prof John b. Smith
says that the clcada appeared in immense
numbers in 1880 in Prospect Park, Brook
lyn, and in the surrounding woods, but
that after a whole days search he was
able to find but a single twig containing
eggs. This he attributed to tho dostruct-
i've work Of tho English sparrow.
That any one may know the cicada
scpten dccim, | will say it is n large
insect, with thick body, about an inch
aud quarter long, and measures about
two and a half 70 three inches across tho
expanded wings. The lattor arc mom-
braneous, transparent, with yellow or
reddish ribs, the front margin Of the
wing being thick and orange, or orange
red. Near the tip of tho wing there is a
small W-shapcd thickoning of tho ribs.
The body is blackish, and the rings on
the under side are edged with brownish
yellow. The head is broad and the Dyes
are very prominent and Of a yollowish or
reddish hue, from which fact the insect
is often called the "red-oyed locust" or
cicada. ERNEST WALKER,
Chief of Division of Entomology.