THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



65 



and under such circumstances, the pupas would 

 continue tlieir galleries from four to six inches 

 above ground (Fig. 60, a full view, b sectional 

 view), leaving an oritice of egress even with the 



[FiR. m.] 



Culor»-Clny-ycIlo» . 



surface (Fig. 60, e) . In the upper end of these 

 L-hambers the pupas would be found awaiting 

 tlieir approaching time of change (Fig. 60 c). 

 Tliey would then back dowu to below the level 

 of the earth, as at d, and issuing forth from the 

 oritice, would attach themselves to the first ob- 

 ject at hand and undergo their transformations 

 in the usual manner." Mr. Rathvou kindly 

 furnished us with one of these elevated chamb- 

 ers, from which the above drawings were taken. 

 It measured about four inches in length, with a 

 diameter on the inside of flve-eighths of an inchj 

 and on tlie outside of about one and a quarter 

 inches. It was slightly bent at the top and suf- 

 liciently hard to carry through the mail without 

 breaking. It bore a great resemblance to the 

 tube of the Masou bee, figured on p. 9 of our 

 tirst number, but the inside was less smooth and 

 covered with the imprints of the spines with 

 which the fore legs of the builder are armed. In 

 a field that was being ploughed, about the time 

 of their ascent, we found that single, straight 

 or bent chambers were the most common, 

 though there were sometimes several branching 

 near the surface from a main chamber below, 

 each of the branches containing a pupa. The 

 same obseiTations have been made by other 

 parties. 



When ready to transform they invariably at- 

 tach themselves to some object, and, after the 

 fly has evolved, the pupa skin is left still adher- 

 ing, as shown at Fig. 69 b. The operation of 

 emerging from the pupa most generally takes 

 place between the hours of G and 9 r. jr.; and ten 

 minutes after the pupa skin bursts on the back 

 the Cicada will have entirely freed itself from it. 



Immediately after leaving the pupa skin, the 

 body is soft and white, with the exception of a 

 black patch on the prothorax. The wings are 

 developed in less than an hour, but the natural 

 colors of the body are not acquired till several 

 hours have elapsed. These recently developed 

 Cicadas are somewhat dull for a day or so after 

 transforming, but soon become more active, 

 both in flight aud song, as their muscles harden. 

 For those who are not informed of the fact, we 

 will state that the males alone are capable of 

 " singing," and that they are true ventriloquists, 

 their rattling noise being produced by a system 

 of muscles in the lower part of the body, which 

 work on the drums under the wings, shown in 

 Fig. 58 at (/ g, by alternately tightening and 

 loosening them . 



After pairing, the frniales deposit their eggs 

 in the twigs of clifliivnt trees; aud though for 

 this purpose tlii'\ mchi to ]nvferthe oaks and the 

 hickories, they (ivi]«i>it in almost every kind of 

 deciduous tree, and even in herbaceous plants, 

 but never in evergreens. We have seen their 

 eggs in the Chestnut, Locust, Willow and Cotton- 

 wood, in peach twigs of not more than 1-8 inch 

 diameter, and also in the stems of the common 

 Aromatic Eupatorium. 



Dr. Harris {Inj. Iiu. p. 212) has well described 

 the mode of depositiiii!-. and it is onlv necessary 

 to add tliat the fcniaic always saws with her 

 head upwai-ds, /. c. t(.iwar(ls the (crminal part of 

 the branch, except when she eumes in contact 

 witha side shoot, when, instead of shifting a little 

 to one side, she reverses her position, and makes 

 two punctures in an opposite direction to the 

 rest, and- tlius tills up the straight row close to 

 the base of the si.l,. sh<M,t. 'Hie e-u's (Fig. 59 e) 

 are of a jieari wliit.' color, oiie-tweltthof aninch 

 long, and taper to an obtuse point at each cud. 

 They are deposited in pairs, but separated by a 

 strip of wood, which is wider — and thus causes 

 the eggs to be further apart— at the bottom of 

 the grooves than at their eommencement. The 

 [Fig, jii.] punctured twigs beai'^he ap- jFig. us.: 

 pearance of Fig. 61, aiid fre- 

 quently break offand die, tliougli 

 the great majority remain green 

 and recover from their wounds. 

 Indeed, our experience of the 

 past summer would indicate 

 that the eggs seldom hatch iu 

 those twigs which break off aud 

 become dry; but that the life 

 and moisture of the twig is es- 

 sential to the life and develop- 

 ment of the egg. We are 

 strengthened in this belief from 

 the fact that the eggs are notice- 

 ably larger just before hatchiui: 

 than when first deposited, show- ' 

 ing that the eggs are, to a certain extent, 

 nourished by the living wood, as is the case 



