THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



67 



function of the ovipositor is to convey an egg 

 into the wound winch it makes, and we liave 

 been unable to trace a single case where eggs 

 wei'e found in the flesh. All such accounts have 

 proved to be fabrications, and Mr. V. T. Cham- 

 bers, of Covington, Ky., writes to us, tiiat the 

 straightforward account which he gave in the 

 August number of the American JVatiiralist, of 

 a negro being stung on the foot by a Cicada, 

 proved, after all, to be a mistake, for "Mr. 

 "Winston did not see the insect with its instru- 

 ment iimitu." 3rd. The three following facts, 

 which are reliable, prove that stinging, in the 

 usual sense of the term, by this instrument is 

 almost impossible: First. Mr. Win. Muir, asso- 

 ciate editor of Colman's liural World, carefully 

 lifted a female from off a tree, while she was yet 

 in the act of ovipositing, and as carefully placed 

 heron his little finger, holding it as near as pos- 

 sible in the same direction and position as the 

 branch grew from which she was taken. She 

 instinctivelycudeavoredto continue ovipositing, 

 and, holding firmly to his finger, tried again 

 and again to insert the ovipositor, but without 

 the least success, for it could not make the least 

 impression on the soft and yielding flesh, but 

 continually slipped from one side to the other. 

 Second. It is recorded that Mr. Peter A. Brown, 

 of Pliiladelpliia, Pa., himself inflicted a puncture 

 with the ovipositor, several times, upon his 

 hand, without experiencing any more pain than 

 that produced by the prick of a pin or any other 

 pointed instrument, and that no swelling ensued. 

 Third. Dr. Hartmann, of Pennsylvania, intro- 

 duced some of the moisture from the ovipositor 

 into an open wound, and it cansed no inflamma- 

 tion whatever. 



Bv THE Beak, ok Haustellu.m. — The beak 

 (Fig. 64, rt) is an organ which both sexes of the 

 Cicada possess, and by which they take their 

 'nourishment. "VVe have ourselves seen them in- 

 sert it into and extricate it from the branches of 

 different trees, and know that the operation is 

 quite rapid, and that the instrument must be 

 quite sharp and strong. All the authentic cases 

 of stinging that we know of, indicate this to be 

 the instrument,* and we incline to believe that, 



•jMt. d7b. Wiev, of Lacon, Ills., who well knows the dif- 

 ference between the male and female Cicada, recollects dis- 

 tinctly, that when they were there in 1854, he was stung in 

 the iinjjer by the male, the sting not causing very severe 

 pain. 



Mr. R. T. P.arker, of St. .James, Phelps county, Mo., an 

 intelligent fruit grower, who has given some time to the 

 study of insects, informed ns that he was stung on Ihe neck 

 by a male Cicada, evidently with the beak, and that the 

 sting was not so painful as that of a bee. 



Dr. M. M, Kenzie, of Centreville, Reynolds county, Mo., 

 has communicated to ua the fact that Prank Smith, "aged 14 

 years, living on Ilenpeck, in the lower part of Reynolds 

 county, was stung by a Cicada on the back of the left hand. 

 The wound healed by tirst intention, and the next morning 

 there was only a black clot, about the size of apings head, to 

 mark its place, with scarcely any swelling. 



just as the sting of a bee will affect some persons 

 nigh unto death, and have no effect whatever on 

 others, so the puncture of the beak of a Cicada 

 will be more serious with some than with oth- 

 ers. That there is no poison gland attached to 

 this beak, is no argument against its stinging 

 power, for several true Bugs arc known to pro- 

 duce severe stings by their beaks, while the 

 hairs and spines of some caterpillars have a sim- 

 ilar power. 



The Injury to Fruit Trees, 

 which the female causes by her punctures, 

 is often quite serious. This is especially 

 the case in a young orchard or in a nurse- 

 ry. When the wind is high tlie Cicadas 

 may, with its aid, be driven to some extent, 

 but without the aid of the wind they can not be 

 driven at all, as when you start them they are 

 just as likely to fly behind as before you. In- 

 deed, when they are once in the fly state, and as 

 numerous as we have seen them the past season, 

 we are obliged to confess, after experiments in- 

 volving about $201),' that there is no available 

 way of preventing their ruinous work. While 

 in their feeble and helpless condition, however, 

 as they leave the ground, they can be destroyed 

 with but little trouble. Hence the importance 

 of knowing beforehand when to expect them, 

 and the practical value of the following chrono- 

 logical table. 



Their chronological History, with Predictions of 



the future Appearance of all well ascertained 



Broods throughout the Country. 



As nothing had been published up to A. D. 

 1808, as to the regular appearance of any 13-year 

 broods of Cicadas, it is not at all surprising that 

 errors were committed by former writers on the 

 subject. In the following chronology of this in- 

 sect's periodical visits, we have endeavored to 

 revise everything heretofore published, and, as 

 far as possible, to complete our knowledge of all 

 known broods. The mass of fiicts from which 

 our generalizations are made, partly collected 

 from correspondents and partly from personal 

 observation, would fill the present number of 

 the Entomologist, if given in detail, and we 

 therefore for the most part omit them. Fully 

 aware that this chronology is far from being 

 complete, and that it may even contain errors, 

 we yet believe that it will remain as a founda- 

 tion for future work; and that before another 

 17 years shall have passed away, we shall pro- 

 bably have this part of the history of our curious 

 Cicadas completed and perfected. 



In order to make the subject as clear as possi- 



