102 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS. 



-once a worm, a thing that crept 



On the bare earth, then wrought a tomb and slept. 

 And such is man — soon from his cell of clay- 

 To burst a seraph in the blaze of day." 



These two Cicadas cannot be classed among the in- 

 jurious insects, for they cannot devour our vegetables 

 and fruits like other Insects, because they have no 

 mouth — and as has been said before, they suck with 

 their snouts only the dew of leaves for their nourish- 

 ment, during the two short months of their existence 

 in their perfect form. Even in their subterranean 

 abode, during the condition of larva?, although feeding 

 upon the roots of several plants, their injury to vege- 

 tation is very trifling, and scarcely enough to indicate 

 that the little creature dwells in the ground. 



On the other hand its utility is unquestioned — thou- 

 sands of the feathered tribe find in them a delicious 

 food, and Dr. Hildreth, of Marietta, Ohio, says in 

 his work already mentioned, that when the Cicadas 

 first leave the earth, they are plump and full of 

 oily juices, so much so that they have been used 

 in the manufacture of soap ! It has also been re- 

 ported that the Indians boil them and consider them 

 a very palatable dish. De gustibus non est dispu- 

 tandum. (Every one to his own taste.) 



The Cicada is the largest Insect in this order, 

 some of the exotic species measuring between six and 



