Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-05-17
Are Beautiful Insects.

A sight of the locusts undergoing their
change from the brown, small and humble
looking bug which has required seventeen
years to develop into the fine, white, coral
eyed insect of today more than justifies the
scientists description of the locust as
beautiful.
The bugs emerge through a little hole
about the size of mans little finger as
soon as the sun is behind the horizon. They
then crawl directly to the trunk of the
nearest tree and climb to the lower
branches. There they fasten themselves
on leaves branches. twigs, anywhere and
In any position for about an hour. The
brown shell-that which is found on the
leaves and ground after the new locust has
been hatched-then splits and the forming
locust begins to appear.
When fully out of his old shell his body
is creamy white in appearance, except that
his eyes are like coral and there are occa-
sional little black splotches. The wings are
in this stage not unfurled. They develop
next, growing into exquisite, goSsamer nets
of the most shimmery and iridescent col
ors. AS they dry they assume a rooted po
sftion over the locusts back and the insect
is perfectly formed. With the first rays of
the sun the insect loses his clear, cream
color and becomes dark. This is the last
stage of the chrysals growth The locust
is from that time fully developed.
Why They Wait Seventeen Years.
The life of the new brood thus brought
into existence continues for only few
weeks Ordinarily they disappear suddenly
In this locality. about the first week in July,
having thus lasted about six weeks. In
that time the insects have mated and the
eggs of the next brood have been layed in
the tree branches where the insects did
their counting. These eggs hatch after
little and the young drop to the ground
underneath, burrow steadily downward and
form the neucleus of the pest of seven
teen years later
This long wait is required to bring the
new brood to maturity. All that time this
generation is growing at the bottoms OF
the little tunnels formed when the insects
were. born. In the course of that growth
they require new shells, exactly as they
do when they spring into the world, an in
definite number of times, probably four or
five 1t is this long stage Of growth under
ground which limits the locust's appear
ance to septidecimal years.
Eaten by Men and Beasts.
All this time the locusts have been feed
ing on the vegetable diet furnished by the
roots near his little cave. He is conse-
quently a toothsome morsal to the hog.
which scents him whenever he nears the
surface and, to the birds, which discover
him after his change of form. But in 1885
modern Americans began to speculate
whether, on the basis of his vegetable diet
In comparison with the scavenger instincts
or the oyster, dHO dlter the custom oI the
North American Indian. the locust might
not prove aspreferable food. Accordingly,
several SCIENTISTS had a mess of them
cooked The following is taken from re-
port on the experiment submitted to the
chronological Society Of Washington soon
afterward:
with the aid of the doctors (Riley's)
cook he had prepared a plain stew, thick
milk stew, and a broil. The cicadae were
collected just as they emerged from pupae.
and were thrown into cold water, In which
they remained over night They were
cooked the next morning and served at
breakfast time. They impaired distinct
and not unpleasant flavor to the stew but
were not at all palatable themselves, as
they were reduced to nothing but bits OF
fiabby skin. The bron lacked substance.
The most palatable method of cooking is to
fry in batter, when they remind one OF
shrimps. They will never prove deli
cacy.
"Mr. T. A. Keleher, who sampled some of
the dishes above described has informed
the writer that he found the cicadas fried
in batter to be most palatabIe. and that he
much preferred them to oysters or shrimps.
That the cicada was eaten by the red