778 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



TRANSFORMATION OF THE SEVENTEEN-YEAR CICADA, 

 progressive stages of transformation from tlie larval stage as 



teen-Year Locust, or |)ropt'rly tlie Seventeen- 

 Year Cicada, belongs to the Order Hoiiiptrra, 

 or suctorial insects. The species of this Order 

 are not provided witli mandibles, but obtain tlieir 

 nourishment by means of a stout proboscis. A 

 familiar member of tlie order is the common \o- 

 cust or harvest fly, that occurs in this region 

 during the hot weather of July, August and 

 early Sei)tember, producing a loud buzzing 

 sound as it perches high among tlie trees. The 

 liarsli song of this Cicada — a large ally of the 

 same genus as the one now with us — is the 

 sound that is proverbially alleged to usher in 

 the dog-day weather. The Hemiiiteroiis in- 

 sects exist in great variety of 

 forms and habits. Some suck tlie 

 juices of fruits and others live 

 upon the blood of man and ani- 

 mals. A considerable number of 

 the larger species inflict an ex- 

 tremely painful puncture with thf 

 proboscis, ejecting an acid at the 

 same time that causes high inflam- 

 mation. Tlie writer has always 

 been cautious in handling speci- 

 mens of the periodical Cicada 

 owing to the apparently powerful 

 beak or proboscis of this species, 

 but he has failed to note an exam- 

 ple make an attempt to inflict in- 

 jury with the organ or at any 

 time to feed. 



DISTRIBl'TION OF THE PRESENT 

 SWARM. 



A number of distinct broods of 

 the Seventeen-Year Cicada have 

 been charted by entomologists. A 

 few of these broods overlap in dis- 

 tribution, with the results that in 

 some states, particularly Pennsyl- 

 vania, swarms of the insects a))- 



pear ;it jieriods of four or five years apart. New 

 York and tlie immediate vicinity possesses a 

 single brood, which appe.irs above ground regu- 

 larly every seventeen years. In the records of 

 the United States Department of Agriculture, 

 Division of Entomology, the various broods are 

 known by cliart numbers. The present visita- 

 tion is charted as the 1911 recurrence of Brood 

 II. The swarms of this breed occur in a num- 

 ber of counties in the easterly portion of New 

 York as far north as Lake Champlain, on Long 

 Ishuid and Staten Island, throughout the state 

 of New .lersey, eastern Pennsylvania, Mary- 



Ian. 



\'irginia and Nortli Carolina. In New 

 .lersey where the Cicadas are ap- 

 pearing in enormous numbers, this 

 insect has been regularly recorded 

 every seventeen years since 177.'5. 



The Mississippi Valley is now 

 swarming with another important 

 brood of tlie ])eriodical Cicada, 

 known as Brood III. Its distri- 

 bution is more extensive than the 

 easterly brood, and moreover, this 

 southerly swarm is particularly 

 interesting owing to its being a 

 thirteen-year race. A number of 

 these are charted on the records 

 of the government entomologists. 



OBSERVATIONS NEAR NEW YORK 



CITY. 



The swarms of the present 

 brood of the Seventeen-Year Ci- 

 cada ajjpeared throughout the va- 

 rious areas in which they were 

 .■inticipated in perfect fulfillment 

 of the ])redictions of entomolo- 

 gists. The writer has made a 

 number of observations of the 

 1911 swarms and assisted Mr. 

 William Beutenmiiller, the Curator 



