128 OMKNSirrTI'K ■ 



«)f that year the advance }<uaril was (juite plentiful in the 

 privet hedj^e on the west side of Oran^je street, north of the 

 railroad, in the borough of Media. In I1S.S5, the same ground 

 being occupied by Osage orange, they were there found in 

 great abundance, as were they also in the thicket north of the 

 road leading from RitUey Creek to the Hlack Horse, in Mid- 

 dletown Township. In 1902 they were numerous in the wood 

 southwest of Media station, and still more so among the 

 chestnut trees at " Idlewild." 



As early as 3 A. M. the subdued cadence of the males rolls 

 tremulously on the morning air — a low, monotonous murmur, 

 which changes before they perish to a sound somewhat resem- 

 bling the running of a sewing machine. In calling to his 

 mate the abdomen of the male is raised and lowered in unison 

 with the sound of " ce'a7i'-o," plaintively drawn out. 



The musical apparatus of the seventeen year cicada can 

 readily be seen just behind the wings, and is a membrane 

 stretched over a cavity and alternately tightened and released 

 b\- muscular action from within. 



In the neighborhood of Media the chestnut seemed to be 

 the favorite for oviposition. The eggs, however, have been 

 found in so astringent a tree as the black walnut, and even in 

 the stem of the golden rod. Where many ]ierforations are 

 made the branch droops and dies, giving an unsii^htlv effect, 

 and preventing development (jf the eg.ys. 



The seventeen year cicada is greedily jiursued by different 

 birds, and under the various forces combined against it the 

 fate of the American bison seems to await these insects. 

 Fowls delight in them, with the penalty, ujion authority of 

 Dr. Harlan, of Philadelphia, of producing eggs with colorless 

 yolks. A most relentless enemy is the sphex insect, before 

 named, which keejis its burrow well su])plied with unwary 

 victims. 



This cicada is, in length of days, the longest lived of 

 insects. Seventeen years beneath the soil — a few weeks of air 

 and sunshine as the perfect insect ! WMiat a cf)ntrast to the 



