172 



THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



THE PERIODICAL CICADA. 



SEVENTEEN- AND THIRTEEN-YEAR BROODS. 



We quote the following from our P'irst 

 Report on the Insects of Missouri : 



Brood XV. — Septcmdecim — 1863, 1880. 



In the year 1880, and at intervals of 17 years 

 thereafter, they will, in all probability, appear 

 from Western Pennsylvania to Scioto River, east, 

 and down the valley of the Ohio River, as far as 

 Lewis County, in Virginia. 



This brood is recorded in Ohio as far back as 

 the 3'ear 1812, by "A. M. B.," writing to the Chi- 

 cago Tribune, under date of June 22, 1868. Har- 

 ris also records its appearance in Ohio in 1S29, 

 and the}' were quite numerous in Coles County, 

 in the centre of the same State, in 1846, or during 

 the first year of the Mexican war, while Dr. Smith 

 records it in the eastern part of the State, extend- 

 ing over twelve counties, west, to the Scioto River, 

 and to Sandusky, on Lake Erie, in iS2c), '46 and 

 '63 ; and in Lewis County, Virginia, since 1795. 

 As before stated, this brood occurred in Ohio in 

 1846, simultaneously with the tredecim Brood VII 

 in South Illinois. Dr. Fitch, in his account of 



[Fig. T6.] 



ipa, side view ; b, pupa shell^^ r, 

 d^ twig, with egg-slits — nat. size ; 



The Periodical Cicad.\ ; a, pi 

 mature insect, with wings expanded 

 e, eggs — enlarged (after Riley). 



his 5th brood, also records its appearance, and 

 states that it reached to Louisiana. But just as 

 the scptcmdecini Brood VIII was confounded with 

 the great trcdccim Brood XVIII in 1855, so this 

 scptfindecim Brood XV was doubtless also con- 

 founded with it in 1829, for they both occurred 

 that year. Had the western country been as 

 thickly settled in 1S29 as it was in 1855, the 

 trcdfcim Brood XVIII could undoubtedly have 

 been traced in Southern Illinois and Missouri, 

 etc., in the former as it was in the latter year. 

 This belief is furthermore greatly strengthened 

 from our having no other record of the appear- 

 ance of this scpteindecim brood, in Louisiana, than 

 Prof. Potter's statement that they appeared there 

 in 1829, whereas tliey have occurred there since 

 1829, at intervals, not of 17, but of 13 years, and 

 were there the present year, 1868, as will be seen 



on referring to Brood XVIII, The dividing line 

 of these two broods (XV and XVIII) is probably 

 the same as with broods VIII and XVIII. 



The papers have generally noticed the 

 appearance of these insects in the parts of 

 Ohio indicated, and also in Western Penn- 

 sylvania. Among the different items that 

 have come to our notice, we quote the two 

 following as samples : 



Among the other events that thickly crowd 

 this eventful summer is the advent of the seven- 

 teen-year locust. It reappears in the southern 

 counties of Ohio, and in consideration of the 

 locality its coming must have some political sig- 

 nificance. In 1S12 the great W on its wings stood 

 for "war," and in 1S63 it stood for "war" again. 

 What it signified in the intervening years when 

 lliere was no war cloud on the horizon, I do not 

 know. With a judicious variation of this initial 

 letter the locust might, especially on Presidential 

 years, become a new force in politics. But it is 

 again the same great W. — Washington (D. C.) 

 Republic. 



The seventeen-year locust is filling the 

 hills and rich bottom-lands of Western 

 Pennsylvania and Virginia with its dron- 

 ing thunder, which is almost deafening at 

 noon on a sunny day. Tlie farmers have 

 plenty of reasonable theories to account 

 for its mysterious appearance and long ab- 

 sence. It has, they say, to make a jour- 

 ney to China and back, which takes eight 

 years each way ; or, it is a part of the 

 Egyptian host, lost in the Red Sea, which 

 still live in some nether world but are al- 

 lowed every seventeenj'ears to revisit these 

 glimpses of the moon, and cry on Phar-a- 

 oh ! Pharaoh ! to arouse the remorse of 

 their buried leader ; or, it comes to fore- 

 tell war, as may be seen by the most in- 

 credulous in the W on its wing. But 

 the sole outcome of all these impending 

 disasters will be a downfall of dead limbs 

 in August. This locust eats neither fruit 

 nor vegetable, so far as can be discovered ; 

 it simply riddles the green new wood of 

 the tapering limbs of trees to deposit its 

 eggs. If these branches are burned and 

 the ground plowed up, our visitor will be 

 longer in making his journey from China 

 or the Red Sea.— N. Y. Weekly Tribune, 

 June 7. 1880. 



Mr. William H. Edwards, of Coalburgh, 

 writes that it has appeared in his section of 

 West Virginia. We will not now recapitu- 

 late the many interesting facts connected 

 with this insect which have been recorded 

 by ourselves and others, but we ask our 

 readers to help us to perfect our knowledge 

 of the extent and geographical range of 

 this brood, by sending us any facts that 

 have come to their knowledge as to the 

 particular locations in which it has this 

 year appeared. 



