Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1915-06-10
Seventeen. Yer Locusts.


own as the seventeen-year locust,
is expected to appear in May and June
this year in scattered localities COW
ering much of the northern and cen
trail States lying between the FIut'so
and Mississippi rivers, extend. NJ along
the Appalachian elevated plIteau in
to northern Georgia and South Caro-
lima. This particular brood made It's
last appearance in this territory in.
1898.
The seventeen-year locust cove s in
itsrange neatly all of the United
States from the Mississippi ValIey
eastward The curious feature of its
regular periodic appearances and i
long subter- anean life give it pelhars
the greatest popular interest which
attaches to any insect on this CONT
nent, and lead to many inquiries W tn
every temperance of any import ut
brood. There are two ra~es o. ta:s
insect: a. the seven. ~ a
which occurs II. II dif '.a-~tr1 br Cd
over the northern an ce~ tai g
States, and ~ the .hirtee1s yea r1-'e.
which occurs in different brooIs
throughout the southe. states tr~--'
Texas eastward. When any CT tn
broods are characterized b. great
swarms they naturally cause fe,rs To-
the safety of trees. The actual dam
age, however, is sli3ht an | is accom-
Dlished by the female cica1a w',e, =,
cuts the bark of the tree in the de
position of her eggs.
While the expected brood + not A.,
important one, it covers much wide.
territory than any of the he- seven
teen-year broods. According to the
records, the number of locusts to be
expected over most of this territory is
not great, except in the Northwest
and in the Southeast.
Ordinary TeDef1ent- substances, such
as kerosene emulsion Or carbolic-aci-.
solutions, seem to have very little CT
feet in preventing the oviposition Of
these insects. Some recent evner
renee, however, indicates that trees.
thoroughly sprayed with Bordeaux
mixture or lime wash are apt. to be
avoided by the cicada, especially Il
there are other trees. or woods in the
neighborhood on which they can
oviDoSit. The most reliable means of
protecting nurseries and younr orch
ards is by collecting the insects in
bags or umbrellas from the trees il,
early morning or late evening, when.
they are somewhat tornid. Such col
lections should be undertaken at the
first appearance of the cicada and re-.
peated each day.
Vigorous young trees often cover
in three or four years from the ef-
fects of a loss of, or injury to, con
siderable percentage of their branches.
However, it is difficult to ove-com.,
he unsymmetrical appearance which
will commonly result from the ;,d;a
rim rate n~unirr often necc&sar rs
result Of the-temale insects wo-k.
The worst af fecte3 branches eho"l1
be removed. The | SIS in'u-cd limp
NAV be coated on the wounded rart~
with grating wax o. moderately had
soar. These protective cove.ia. s
should be renewed at least o;lc, 2
year, preferably in the sor;n,r u,t:
the wounds are entirely healed ov~r
It NAV be expe 1ient, i, the case %
badly wounded recently budded o.
grated tree, to cut il back ne,-1-r NJ
the bud or graft, so tina. an entirely
new toomay be male
In thecase of older trees, tn, MAN
object of treatment is 10 recure the
rapid healing of the wounds and pre-
vent their being used as points Of
y
The worst injured limbs in. such trees
should also bescut out, so that all She
vigor of the plant NAV be directed to
the remaining wood. The healir~
process NAV be accelerated BY
thorough cultivation and the usa of
fertilizers on the land about the trees
attacked
The scientists of the Bureau oe
Entomology are kee,ninr close waite
of the territory where the locusts are
due to appear, with a view to min m y
ing the damage. The Bureau will b.,
| glad to receive reports Of any occur
rences of this brood Such rerorts
should be made about June TO- he.
cause shortly after that date the com
mon annual 'cicadas will begin to m k,
| their appearances and there will D
| likelihood of confusing, the latter w tn
| the periodical species Whenever the
observer is in doubt it would be wei
to send specimens for Determination
The report should be filled out with
the name of the locality, including
state, county and town, and the name
of the observer. The information
given should include the date of first
appearance or emergence of the
cicada, the date of its general disap-
pearance, and the numbers, in Other
words, whether very numerous or
scattering.
"A small brood of the thirteen-ycar
race of the periodical cicada was re-
ported in Nav, 1902, by M. Georye
H. Kent, of Suffolk, Franklin county,
Miss This brood is again reported
4 by Mr. Kent a shaving reappeared this
year, This isolated record is the ONLY
one we have of the thirteen-year
brood of this year.
The records of distribution publish
ed in bulletin of the Bureau Of
Entomology of the Department of
Agriculture indicates the occurrence
of the cicada in the following counties
in West Virginia. Berkeley, Brooke.
Clay, Fayette, Grant, Hampshire, Han
cock, Hardy, Jefferson. Marshall, Min
eral, Monongalia, Monroe, Morgan,
Ohio, Pendleton, Pocahontas, Preston
Raleigh, Tucker, Tyler, Webster.