Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1911-05-24

never religiously believed that IL
could be done until beheld for my
self In the spring of 1902. Four full
years In advance OF that date the Off
ciai prophets had given me a map Of
the predicted theater of war. / fled
II away, and when the scheduled week
rolled around l visited a spot marked
az within the prognosticated field Of
battle. Here | saw the enemy ad-
vance and viewed the succeeding
tumult. 1t was a sight for sore eyes, a
| spectacle to be remembered through
out lifetime.
But the high doings OF 1902 were as
nothing compared with those which
Mother Nature will pull off this spring
IN $50 counties OF twenty-one Amer
lean states. For the first time since
1894 two of the major broods" of
periodical '1ocusts" will simultaneous
ly appear.
1t Will be the last time within our
natural lives that such an onslaught
will be witnessed. nor will our chill
dren's children see the like, for,
strangely enough, two Of these major
bfoods" will not again appear at the
shall have passed
The two armies are of distinct races
the one peculiar to the north and the
other to the south. The southerners
have been intrenched under ground
for precisely thirteen years and the
northern warriors have been similarly
hiding beneath their cooler soil for
exactly seventeen twelve months
lhose which now are to appear in the
south last saw the scenes of their
birth in the year of the Spanish war
1S9S--while those that are to invade
the north have not gazed upon their
native heath since 1894. In these
years countless millions of the TO.
spective races went into hiding be-
meath the soil and since that time not
an individual among them has chosen
to lift his eyes above ground.
The two broOds will overlap I'm In
| diana, while the whole of New Jersey
and the District of Columbia are
marked for Invasion by the northern
ers. The latter constitute one of the
best recorded OF the 17-year broods-
one which has been regularly reported
! y
| since 1924, and at equal intervals in
New Jersey since 1875. And the south
erners compose one OF the two largest
l3-year broods known to entomologists.
Although others have appeared
| among us at more or less frequent in
tervals, these two exact broods have
not appeared together in America
Since 1890, nor will they again visit
us at the same time until the year
2132.
The periodical cicada-found only
In America-lives to be older than any
other insect known to science. The
two broods which are to appear this
year have respective spans of life
which dog and cat could with but
difficulty attain.
Why the northern species lives I'M
foreground for exactly seventeen years
while the southerners maintain their
subterranean existence for Just tkir-
teen years-never more nor less I'm
either case-is one of. the riddles of
science. but is supposed to be due to
/ differences in climate-to the same
phenomena which cause higher spe-
| cies TO mature earlier in the south
/ than in the north
The eggs which bore the countless
billions Of the two broods TO aDpear
this spring were laid I'm the sup.mers
| OF 1894 and 1898, respectively. A few
/ weeks later the baby cicadas- about
\ the size OF minute ants-escaped from
their shells. fell lightly to the ground
and quickly burrowed out Of sight.
each forming for himself "A little sub
terranean chamber or cell adjoining
| the sappy root OF the family tree I'm
whose twigs the productive eggs had
been deposited for nourishment In
/ this Underground CELL at FIST the size
OF small grain or bird shot. but
/ gradually growing with is OCCUPANT.
each clcada has remained within two
feet OF the surface through winter and
summer buried from sunlight and air.
II has lived thus I'm solitary confne-
mont for thirteen or seventeen years.
as the case might be. knowing only its
moist eartheu chamber, separated
from It's brothers and sisters. rarely
changing SIS position save as some
accident 20 the Bourishing rootlet has
caused 81 20 burrow further. In search
Of another
In this sepuichral darkness and soil.
iudc each OF these little grubs is today
awaiting natures signal for II TO
emerge from the ground. grow wings
and enjoy only a few weeks Of the so.
ciety OF its fellows, the warmth and
brightness Of the sun To-day these
billions Of waiting cicadas arc within
about half inch OF the soil surface
OF the twenty-one states Indicated
Each Is now Of the color and shape Of
the brown locust shells" which IN
past years you have seen adherihs to
/ trees
Just before coming 10 The snrfnca