The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-06-11
THE sEvENTEEN-YEAR LOCUST.

The seventeen year locust WAS last here In the
year 1894, Just in time 10 add emphasis 10 'he
panic of 1898. Before that he came along Just
as the country was preparing with toreboding 10
enter upon the Hayes administration, which had
raped the Presidency from Tilden, who had oeen
elected by the country Before that ne came III
1860, foreboding of the long and bloody war
between the States, the ''W" on bis wings clear
ly marked, and true prophecy OF the evil that lay
in wait for those parlous times.
According to all the rules of his birth, LIE ms
tory and habits, the seventeen-year locust ougn'
not, therefore, to put in his appearance uhtii tue
summer of 1911 1t is a significant tact-or
otherwise. as YOU cboose.-that he has concluded
not to wait his proper cycle, andl already mere
The Virginian has boxful of him, sent from
Blue Ridge Mountain BIZ friend, who says
that he is there, 'by the million. The shells DIS
close cicada of about three quarters the size Oh
the familiar annual "July fly or Harvest lime
cicada. on the tip of whose gauzy wings are the
distinct black markings which, when the insect
is inverted, form well-nigh perfect w, which
the superstitious say indicate war
Why the seventeen-year locust should change
his habit and become sixteen year Old VISITOR
instead we will have TO leave to those versed IN
portents. Perhaps it is the home coming OF
Teddy that varies all rules. Mayhap, for the
want of something better in prospect, 1t Is the
Jeffries-J ohnson prze-hght which Is the nearest
thing on the boards approximating strife 1t
may be that some echo of Insurgent defamation
has stirred the slumberer from his sleep, or 1t
NAV be that to take no chances, he has come this
year and will come next year also. At any rate,
the locust as herein this office-now. We regard
him as we write-and wonder at the destiny he
may foretel
As matter of fact, the 'Seventeen-year locus"
is not locust at ALL but cicada. he mark OF
locusts, like that of bullfrogs. is long hind legs.
If you want to see a locust, look at grasshopper
he it is Who on migration, descends upon the
land, even as the Midianites descended upon Is
rael, coming "as grasshoppers for multitude !;
he it was of whom Moses spoke unto Pharaoh
that they should cover the face of the earth,
that one cannot be able 10 the see the earth ::
and they shall eat the residue Of that which
is escaped, which remaineth unto you from
the hail. and shall eat every tree which groweth
for you out of the field" Beside these plaques
the cicada is comparatively harmless. lie is
called locust. but be is the short-legged
species, as little destructive by comparison
with his long-legged cousins the molly-cotton-
tail is when compared to the Australian jack
rabbit There should be comfort in this thought,
even though the locust be upon us.
The seventeen-year cicada is the product of
eggs laid in trees, which, after Matching into
nymphs drop to the ground and bore under the
roots, where their long period of development
is passed before they develop wings and proceed
to perpetuate their species. Their adult life is
brief, only few weeks. The presence of the
locusts in the seventeenth, instead of the eigh-
teenth year, is due to overlapping broods. They
will return next season, and will then slumber
through at least several war-scares in Europe.