88 THE PERIODICAL CICADA, 
the absurdity of the theory that the stinging in question is done by 
the aid of this instrument, the female not being able to puncture the 
soft, yielding flesh at all. In one test reported by Professor Riley, 
Mr. William Muir, of St. Louis, removed a female from a tree while 
she was in the act of ovipositing, and placed her on his finger. 
Although she instinctively endeavored to continue her work, she was 
not able to make the least impression on the soft, yielding flesh. A 
second experiment was made by Mr. Peter A. Brown, of Philadelphia, 
who himself made several punctures upon his hand with the ovipositor 
without experiencing any more serious results than would have 
followed pricking with a pin or other sharp instrument. In a third 
experiment, Doctor Hartman, of Pennsylvania, introduced some 
moisture from the ovipositor into an open wound and it caused no 
inflammation whatever. 
The ovipositor having been removed as the probable source of sting- 
ing, the beak only remains, and it is unquestionably by means of this 
instrument that practically all the so-called stings of the Cicada are 
made. The structure of the beak has already been discussed, and it is 
not at all improbable, though certainly a rare occurrence, that the 
Cicada, when held or caught, may thrust out the slender sets and 
puncture the skin. Many other hemipterous insegts are known to 
‘“sting’’ in this way and to cause some severe momentary pain. The 
sensitiveness of the individual is, however, in the case of the Cicada, 
the sole criterion of injury. The authentic reports of Cicada stings 
show some variations in the effects, but as a rule the result is much 
less serious than the sting of a bee and not much more than the punc- 
ture of a needle, the wound usually healing immediately. 
TRANSFORMATION TO THE ADULT STAGE. 
PERIOD OF EMERGENCE. 
The date of the issuing of the cicadas from the ground after their 
long concealment varies a little with the latitude, being later in the 
North than in the South. In the accounts of this sect published by 
Professor Riley and most other writers up to the present time it has 
been stated that there is very little divergence in the time of issuing 
between the northern and the southern broods, the latter half, or more 
strictly the last week, of May being the normal period for the emerg- 
ence of the insect throughout its range. That there may be, however, 
a considerable difference in time, depending on elevation and tempera- 
ture, in a given district and in the northern and southern parts of the 
country, also determined undoubtedly by temperature, has been fully 
established. The variation in the dates of appearance is illustrated 
by the following records: 
