HEMIPTERA. 171 



are orange-red, and near the tips of the latter there is a dusky- 

 zigzag line in the form of the letter W ; the eyes when living are 

 also red ; the rings of the body are edged with dull orange ; and 

 the legs are of the same color. The wings expand from 2| to 

 3|- inches. 



In those parts of Massachusetts which are subject to the visita- 

 tion of this Cicada, it may be seen in forests of oak about the 

 middle of June. Here such immense numbers are sometimes 

 congregated, as to bend and even break down the limbs of the 

 trees by their weight, and the woods resound with the din of their 

 discordant drums from morning to evening. After pairing, the 

 females proceed to prepare a nest for the reception of their eggs. 

 They select, for this purpose, branches of a moderate size, which 

 they clasp on both sides with their legs, and then bending down 

 the piercer at an angle of about forty-five degrees, they repeatedly^ 

 thrust it obliquely into the bark and wood in the direction of the 

 fibres, at the same time putting in motion the lateral saws, and in 

 this way detach little splinters of the wood at one end, so as to 

 form a kind of fibrous lid or cover to the perforation. The hole 

 is bored obliquely to the pith, and is gradually enlarged by a rep- 

 etition of the same operation, till a longitudinal fissure is formed 

 of sufficient extent to receive from ten to twenty^ eggs. The side- 

 pieces of the piercer serve as a groove to convey the eggs into 

 the nest, where they are deposited in pairs, side by side, but 

 separated from each other by a portion of woody fibre, and they 

 are implanted into the limb somewhat obliquely, so that one end 

 points upwards. When two eggs have been thus placed, the 

 insect withdraws the piercer for a moment, and then inserts it 

 again and drops two more eggs in a line with the first, and repeats 

 the operation till she has filled the fissure from one end to the 

 other, upon which she removes to a little distance, and begins to 

 make another nest to contain two more rows of eggs. She is 

 about fifteen minutes in preparing a single nest and filling it with 

 eggs ; but it is not unusual for her to make fifteen or twenty 

 fissures in the same hmb ; and one observer counted fifty nests 

 extending along in a line, each containing fifteen or twenty eggs 

 in two rows, and all of them apparently the work of one insect. 

 After one limb is thus sufficiently stocked, the Cicada goes to 



