256 INSECT ARTI2ANS AND THEIR WORK 



watching something else, my attention was arrested 

 by the short quick notes of a cicada within a few 

 inches of my eyes. To my delight I saw the insect 

 distending its abdomen with each short note. 

 Then as it produced the long note I saw the abdomen 

 gradually contract, as if the air that had been 

 pumped in was being expelled with great muscular 

 force. Just before the long note was finished, I 

 was fortunate enough to catch the little fellow in 

 my hand ; and then to my further delight and 

 surprise, I found that by gently pressing the thorax, 

 I could secure an encore at will. This lasted nearly 

 all the time I was walking home ; and I was able 

 to watch the distention and contraction of the 

 abdomen for nearly half an hour — long after the 

 other cicadas had ceased their song for the evening. 



" The conclusion I reached, in conjunction with 

 what I have read on the subject, was that the cicada 

 IS able to fill the abdominal space with compressed 

 air, and then force this air through the tympanum. 

 (Note the accordion-like structure of the abdomen) 

 ... I had few other opportunities for watching 

 the cicadas quite as good as this first one, but 

 whenever I had the opportunity I was convinced 

 of the correctness of my observations on that 

 occasion." 



Respecting the silence of the females, which 

 attracted the attention of Xenarchus, it is not due 

 to want of the apparatus, but to the fact that it is 

 not fully developed. 



Hartman speaks of the music as the " marital 



