The Cicada: the Eggs 



our attention exclusively to the first; their 

 story will tell us that of the others. 



September is not over before the gleaming 

 ivory-white gives place to straw-colour. In 

 the early days of October there appear, in 

 the front part, two little dark-brown spots, 

 round and clearly-defined, which are the 

 ocular specks of the tiny creature in course of 

 formation. These two shining eyes, which 

 almost look at you, combined with the cone- 

 shaped fore-end, give the eggs an appearance 

 of finless fishes, the very tiniest of fishes, for 

 which a walnut-shell would make a suitable 

 bowl. 



About the same period, I often see on my 

 asphodels and those on the hills around indi- 

 cations of a recent hatching. These indica- 

 tions take the form of certain discarded 

 clothes, certain rags left on the threshold by 

 the new-born grubs moving their quarters and 

 eager to reach a new lodging. We shall 

 learn in an instant what these cast skins 

 mean. 



Nevertheless, in spite of my visits, which 

 were assiduous enough to deserve a better 

 result, I have never succeeded in seeing the 

 young Cicadae come out of their cells. My 

 home breeding prospers no better. For two 

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