2O2 CHARLES W. HARGITT. 



the continuity and functional activity of the entire digestive 

 system. The recent work by Hickernell has corrected and ex- 

 tended the investigation in a thorough and convincing way. 



FEEDING HABITS. 



A consideration of the feeding habits of cicadas is important 

 in the present connection, as conditions in the digestive organs 

 will be influenced by the reaction of the insect to food. As 

 pointed out in the previous article, it has been maintained by 

 various students of these insects that they seldom if ever take 

 food during the adult life. Later studies by Quaintance, to 

 which Marlatt has yielded a measure of assent, and the researches 

 of the former paper already referred to, clearly establishing the 

 functional efficiency of the digestive apparatus, renders the con- 

 clusion inevitable that there is no intrinsic difficulty in the views 

 of these observers as to the feeding habits of the insect during 

 the adult period of its life. The senior author has studied the 

 food habits of this insect at several intervals for some twenty 

 years and is not convinced that the accounts by Quaintance just 

 mentioned are fully confirmed. Very special attention was given 

 to this point during the appearance of the brood in this locality 

 in the year 1916. In the main, it confirmed previous studies in 

 1899. In both cases attention was directed to two phases of the 

 adult life, namely, that immediately following the emergence 

 from the nymphal stage and during the early free-living condi- 

 tion, when it was believed the occasion to replace the w r astes of 

 this ordeal might express itself in free food taking. Furthermore, 

 it was during this period of early adult life that accurate observa- 

 tions could be most easily made. But repeated observations at 

 this time failed to show a single decisive case, though at times 

 the attitude of the insect was such that it was necessary to dis- 

 turb it in order to make certain that it was not actually feeding. 

 Another period for observation was that about a week or ten 

 days later when activity was very marked, especially among the 

 males, in view of the growth of the reproductive organs and cells 

 at this time. It was assumed that here was a special stage when 

 need of food must be rather urgent. But here again, very few 

 cases even under cage environment were distinguished. It 

 must be admitted that during this period few specimens could 



