Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1902-05-03
LOCUSTS NEXT MONTH.
Seventeen-Year Cicada Septem-
decim Will Soon Arrive.

decim Will Soon Arrive.
| Warnings are being sent out by the
various official bodies and agricultural
socities over the Northern and Eastern
parts of the United States against the
great swarm of II year locusts which
will make its appearance this month.
After sleeping underground for nearly
two decades, the insects will come out
in May in enormous numbers. and fruit
growers especially will have reason to
fear, to some extent, for the safety of
their trees. In various parts of Mary
land the larvae of the insect have been
dug up and plowed up. This state,
with Virginia and Delaware, will prob
ably be the scenes of the greatest num-
Der of the winged visitors.
| CICADA SEPTEMDECIM
| This-the cicada eptemdecim-is the
weirdest and in some respects the most
interesting of all insects. Particularly
interesting is the story of the evolution
of the voracious insects from the larvae
Each female deposits about 500 eggs in
the bark of the twigs of trees on which
they happen to be. The larvae. antlike
when Matched, drop to the ground and
bore into the earth, and there pass the
long interval until their temperance
above ground. They veritably honey.
comb the ground in this process of com.
ing ont into daylight. The insects are
then in pupae stage, of considerable
size, and sluggish. They crawl to the
nearest tree or fence rail, get strenu-
Gus grip-one OF two strenuousnesses in
the career of the insect-aud then &C.
ours the final act of this wonderful evo.
luton. The gelatinous shell, dried by
sun and air, and expanded by the de-
velopment of its occupant. splits verti-
cally of the thorax nature having sup
effectiveness. The cicada thereupon
comes out, using little effort, rather de-
pending on the natural thickening of
its girth to open its prison door. In a
few hours it tumbles-a temporarily
helpless ball of wings, legs and body
to the ground, while the empty prison
cell clings as before until wind and
weather effect its destruction. Many
of these pupae shells will still be found,
however, clinging to bark or silver of
wood in some protected nook years after
Irln nf ha q nI "
reminders and promises as well, nor
empty promises either.
THE UNEARTHLY DIN.
The second and last strenuous bust
ness to which the clcada lends its en-
ergies is its contribution to the insect
orchestra of wood, orchard and country
side. In this the male only participates
1t is his love song. The mechanism
that makes the sound consists of two
small drums of membrane situated on
the sides of the abdomen. These drums
are caused to vibrate by the action of
powerful muscles, and the noise is varied
III tone and pitch by adjacent structures
|
effect. sounding boards. The manner
in which the sound is propuced may be
compared to the pressing up and down
of the bottom of somewhat bulged tin
pan.
The cicada septemdecim is, all in all,
a beautiful insect, belonging TO the COM
monest order of his kind, is entirely
harmless and unobjectionable in habit,
unless the damage done to fruit trees,
and occasionally to other plants, is SER
iously considered. That they do not
sting need hardly be said. A couple of
ants in bad humor could annihilate u
brigade of them.
Watch the ground for their coming
The pupae on reaching the surface con-
struct little cones or chimneys of earth
variously called "huts," "towers.
"chimneys' and "adobe dwellings,"
and these will be most conspicuous,
sometimes millions of them being found
in a small piece of ground. They are
built of soft pellets of clay or mud.
pressed firmly into place, and probably
are designated to protect the newcomer
from the first effects of the outer air
apt to be damp and chilly.
After II years of preparation the in
sect has but a few days to live. The
female dies when the eggs are laid and
the male follows the last throb of his
love song.
| BE snre and nSe that old and wei tried