66 



THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



with those of many Saw-flics. Mr. Rathvoii has 

 also recorded the fact that the Cicada eggs are 

 alwaj's shriveled in twigs that are amputated by 

 the Oak-pruner {Stenocorus villosiia, Fabr.) In 

 the healing of the punctured parts a knot usually 

 forms over each puncture, and we represent, at 

 Fig. 62, a portion of an apple twig, sent to us by 

 Mr. Jno. P. McCartney, of Cameron, Clinton 

 county. Mo., and which was punctured in the 

 year 18G2. Though the wounds had so well 

 healed on the outside, tlie grooves inside were 

 not filled up, but still contained the minute 

 glistening egg-shells, from which tlic young 

 larva3 had escaped six years before. 



The eggs hatch between the 20th of July and 

 the 1st of August, or in about six weeks after 

 being deposit- [Rg. cso 



ed. The newly 

 hatched larva 

 (Fig. 63) differs 

 considerably 

 from the full 



gl'OWn larva, Color-Pcavly wl.itL. 



but principally in having much longer and dis- 

 tinctly 8-jointed antennse.* It is quite active, 

 and moves its antennse as dexterously and as 

 rapidly as does an ant. As soon as it has extri- 

 cated itself from an exceedingly fine membrane, 

 which still envelops it after it has left the egg,t 

 our little Cicada drops deliberately to the ground ; 

 its specific gravity being so insignificant, that it 

 falls through the air as gently and as softly as 

 does a feather. 



Enemies of the Cicada. 



Upon leaving the ground to transform, the 

 pupa' are attacked by different cjuadrapcds, by 

 birds, by cannibal insects, such as Ground- 

 beetles, DragoMies, Soldier-bugs, etc. ; while 

 hogs and poultryaf all kinds greedily feast upon 

 them. In the perfect fly state they are attacked 

 by at least one insect parasite; for dipterous 

 maggots (the larvse, probably, of some Tachina 

 fly — see Fig. 35, in No. 3) may occasionally be 

 found in their bodies. In this state they are also 

 often attacked by a peculiar fungus, Avhich was 

 first described by Dr. Leidy, in the Proceed- 

 ings of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural 

 Sciences for 1851. One of our correspondents. 

 Dr. W. D. Hartmau, of Westchester, Pa., speak- 

 ing of the occurrence of this fungus in 1851, 

 says: " The posterior part of the abdomen, in a 



♦There is frequently a 9th joint partly developed, 

 t All young Gr:isslioppers and Katvilids that w have ..vi-r 

 liatc-hcrt wn-f invariiililv rnvc'lcipcl in n like ni-niln-anc after 



large number of male Locusts, was filled by a 

 greenish fungus. * * * The abdomen of the 

 infected males was unusually inflated, dry and 

 brittle, and totally dead while the insect teas yet 

 Jlyincj about. Upon breaking off the hind part 

 of the abdomen, the dust-like spores would fly 

 as from a small puff-ball." One male specimen 

 which we received the present year from Penn- 

 sylvania was afl'ectcd by the same, or a similar 

 fungus, the internal parts of the abdomen being 

 converted into what appeared to be a brown 



mould. 



The Sting of the Periodical (licaila. 

 AVe shall dismiss this subject with as lew 

 words us possiljli'. for the reason that, from our 

 own ( \|i' ri( ih-r. wo can give nothing definite or 

 p(isili\('. Till re is scarcely a paper in the United 

 Stall's lait piilili-licdsome accountof a "Locust" 

 sting last summer, while unpublished accounts 

 were ci|u;illy numerous. We have endeavored 

 to Iraic up :i mniiber of these reports, but have 

 inviiiiulily fiiuiul that they were either false or 

 great!) cxagi^inaled; and we are convinced that 

 the great niajority of such accounts owe their 

 origin to the fertile imaginations of newspaper 

 reporters, who arc ever ready to create a sensa- 

 tion. Yet, to use a common metaphor, it is 

 strange there should be so much smoke and no 

 fire ; and we will therefore briefly review the 

 only three methods b)' which such stinging can 

 possibly be produced. 



By lioRNETS. — On page 8 of No. 1 the senior 

 editor gave it as liis opinion that these stings 

 were perhaps caused by a large Digger wasp 

 (the Stizus r/randis of Say) , and described the 

 probable method. An allied species of Digger 

 wasp (the Stizus sjjeciosits of Say) has been ac- 

 tually observed, by Mr. Eathvon, to carry off a 

 few belated individuals of the Periodical Cicada, 

 though its usual prey isthc larger annual species 

 (C. pruinosa, Say). It is not unlikely, there- 

 fore that the large Digger wasp (S. 'grandis) 

 also attacks the Periodical Cicada in the same 

 maimer; though we have since become satisfied 

 that both of these species appear too late in the 

 season to be the cause of all the stinging we 

 hear of. 



By the OvirosiTOu. — The ovipositor of the 

 female (Fig. 64, h) is certainly capable of in- 

 CFig. i'4.: flicting a wound, but the Cicada is 

 anything but pugnacious, and when 

 not in the act of ovipositing, this 

 instrument is securely enclosed in 

 its sheath. On page 36 of No. 2, 

 the views of two of our correspon- 

 dents are given, and they tend to 

 show that the ovipositor is really 

 the stinging instrument. But we 

 doubt it, for the following reasons. 

 1st. All the stinging we hear of has 

 been done suddenly, wliilc the in- 

 sertion of the ovipositor would 

 and orange. '" ucccssarily bc a gradual Operation, 

 •equiring at least one minute. 2nd. The real 



