74 



Fig. 85. 



chambers were first noticed by Mr. S. S. Rath von at Lancaster, Pa., and are from four to 



six inches above the ground, with a diameter of 

 one inch and a quarter. (See fig. 85.) When 

 ready to emerge the insect backs down to an 

 orifice which it left in the side of the structure, 

 even with the surface of the ground, issues 

 forth and undergoes its transformations in the 

 usual manner. After pairing the females de- 

 posit their eggs in the twigs of different trees — 

 oak, hickory, and apple chiefly, but also in many 

 other kinds, and even sometimes in coniferous 

 trees. The eggs are placed at the bottom of 

 grooves bored by means of the ovipositor. The 

 insect settles on a branch of moderate size, 

 which she clasps on both sides with her head 

 towards the end, then bending down the piercer 

 at an angle of 45 degrees, thrusts it obliquely 

 through the bark and fibres into the very 

 centre of the twig ; after this nidus is finished 

 she deposits the eggs in two rows with a narro\\ 

 strip of wood left between them ; there are from ten to twenty eggs in each groove. It takes 

 about fifteen minutes to prepare a groove and fill it with eggs. There are sometimes as 

 many as twenty grooves made in a branch by one insect, and each female has a stock of 

 from 500 to 700 eggs. It frequently happens that these branches bearing the eggs, are so 

 weakened by the operation, that they are broken off by the wind, and fall to the ground ; 

 when this is_ the case the eggs never hatch, for, like those of many of the gall flies the 

 moisture of the living wood is necessary for their proper development, as shown by the 

 fact that they are much larger just before hatching than when first deposited about six 

 weeks before. When hatched, they throw themselves 

 fearlessly from the tree to the ground, and from their 

 small size, one line in length, they are very light and 

 receive no injury. The newly-hatched insect is shown in 

 fig. 86. They immediately burrow down into the ground 

 and feed on roots. There are numberless stories in the 

 newspapers every year about people being stung by the 

 Cicadas, but none have ever been satisfactorily proved. 



If these tales be true the injuries could, of course, only be 

 inflicted by the beak, fig. 87 a, or by the ovipositor b, 

 but I fancy that these tales are about as true as the 

 newspaper accounts of the " frightful poisonings" yearly 

 laid at the door of the larva of the Tomato Sphinx : 



" The song of this species is in one uniform musical 

 key, which is C sharp." 



Of the Fulgoridae or Lantern flies there is a small 

 species found in the United States called Scolops dulciiyes, which has the front part of the 

 head much prolonged and projecting upward like a thin curved horn. Prof. T. Glover 

 found it not uncommon in July and September in the neighbourhood of Maryland Agri- 

 cultural College. None have so far been recorded from Canada. 



Among the Cercopidse are found several strange genera, including the Tree-hoppers, 

 Frog-hoppers and Leaf-hoppers. The Tree-hoppers (Membracis of Harris) are dull- 

 coloured little insects which are to be found on the stems and leaves of plants during the 

 summer and autumn months. Many of them have very grotesque forms with the face 

 nearly vertical, the thorax tapering to a point behind, and so mucla enlarged as to cover 

 the greater part of the upper side of the body ; it is too frequently ornamented with 

 blotches or stripes of another colour. These insects are well protected from detection by 

 their enemies, both by their habits and by a striking resemblance which frequently exists 



Fig. 86. 



Fig. 87. 



