proceedings: entomological society 447 



A discussion of the Periodical Cicada followed under the following 

 headings : 



R. A. St. George, Notes from Virginia. — Mr. St. George opened the 

 discussion with notes made at Falls Church, Va., and vicinity, supple- 

 mented by further observations secured by Mr. Snyder. The first 

 adult cicada was observed on May 14th, and the first appearance in 

 numbers was on May 22nd. Mating and oviposition were observed on 

 May 31st, and oviposition has ceased by June 12th. By June 20th 

 adults were practically all gone and the last one heard was on July ist. 

 From caged material the first €:gg hatched between July 1 6th and 20th 

 and hatching continued until Aug. 12th. Numerous records were 

 taken associating the phenological events in plants and the cicada to 

 serve as an index as to when the various stages of the cicada should 

 appear in later generations. Observations were also made on the re- 

 lation of temperature to the cicada song. These observations show that 

 the cicada began to sing when the temperature ranged from 60 ° to 66 ° 

 F., at no time below 60°. During two nights, when the temperature 

 ranged from 62 ° to 74°, it is believed that they sang all night. On one 

 occasion a concert that lasted 5 minutes was started by causing a 

 captive cicada to sing. 



R. E. Snodgrass, Biological and anatomical notes. 



Mr. Snodgrass continued the discussion by recounting some observa- 

 tions made at Somerset, Md., on the habits and the anatomy of the 

 cicada, the latter being illustrated by many beautiful drawings 

 for which Mr. Snodgrass is noted. He also exhibited plaster casts of 

 the chambers that the cicadas form when they come up near the sur- 

 face in the spring. The longest of these measured 6 inches. Mr. 

 Snodgrass was able to distinguish four songs of the larger form and 

 discussed the entirely difi"erent song of the smaller form. Oviposition 

 of the adult and emergence of the pupae and shedding of the pupal 

 skin were discussed briefly corroborating earlier observations. The 

 young cicadas hatch in a membrane with pouches for the appendages 

 and the speaker commented on the resemblance of the shedding of 

 this membrane to a true molt. The functional mouth of the adult is 

 reduced to a narrow median tube between the closely appressed epi- 

 pharynx and hypopharynx. The setae arise from pouches behind the 

 lateral wings of the hypopharynx, and therefore neither pair can repre- 

 sent the mandibles as commonly supposed. Mr. Snodgrass was in- 

 clined to believe both pairs maxillary. The abdomen in both sexes 

 is almost filled by a large air-sac, crowding the viscera into very nar- 

 row spaces around the periphery^ What appears to be the intestine 

 from its position at the end of the stomach is really a long coiled tube 

 that returns and rejoins the stomach at a point near the opposite end, 

 while the true intestine originates at the anterior end of the stomach 

 near the oesophagus. 



