The Seventeen-Year Cicada on Staten Island in 1912^ 



William T. Davis 



While 191 1 was "Locust Year" in the valley of the the Hud- 

 son, a considerable number of seventeen-year cicadas appeared in 

 June, 1912. No doubt there are eighteen-year cicadas, that is 

 some individuals are delayed from one cause or another and do 

 not appear with the majority of the brood to which they belong. 

 This is a well-established fact with insects of a shorter life cycle 

 than the cicada. 



On June 21, 19 12, several seventeen-year cicadas. Cicada sep- 

 tendecim Linn., were heard singing on the hill near Richmond. 

 Mr. John A. Grossbeck reported hearing one on June 16 in the 

 Clove Valley, and Mr. Isaac Wort heard a number in June at 

 Woodrow, but did not see any. Three cicadas were collected at 

 West New Brighton by Mr. Charles P. Benedict and many were 

 heard singing. Off Staten Island, at West Point, N. Y., on June 

 17 and 18, the writer heard many seventeen-year cicadas and, on 

 the latter date, with Col. Robinson, Mr. Charles Schaeffer and Mr. 

 Charles L. Pollard, collected two adults and several pupa skins. 

 Mr. Pollard and Mr. William Sleight reported hearing cicadas 

 near Bear Swamp in the Ramapo Mountains, N. J., on June 25, 

 1912. During a week's stay in the nearby lowlands at Ramsey 

 none wer heard. 



The experience of 1912 but duplicates that of 1895 following 

 the general appearance of Brood No. 2 in 1894. In June, 1895, 

 seventeen-year cicadas were heard near the central portion of 

 Staten Island, also in the Clove Valley and at West New Brighton. 



1 Presented at the meeting of the Section of Biology. December 11, 1912. 



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