ClOADA tili L'TJSMUJCCl M. 



87 



it at oiico begins to barrow into the soil with its strong 

 fore-foot. It socks oat the roots of plants, and attaches 

 itself to tlio succulent fibres, wliicli it pierces with its sharp 

 boalc. One observer says : " On removing the oarth fi'om 

 a ptiar-tree wliicli liad been declining foi' years, without 

 apparent cause, I found the larvie of the cicada in countless 

 numbers clinging to tire roots of the tree, with their suckers 

 piercing the bark, and so deep and iirinly plaeisd, that they 

 remained lianging for luilf an hour after being removed from 

 the earth. From a I'oot a yard long and about an inch in 

 diameter, I gathered twenty-three larviw of various sizes 

 fi'om a (juartcr of an inch to an inch in h;ngtli. Tlicy wore 

 on all the roots that grow deeper than six inelies below the 

 surface. Tlie roots wore unhealthy, and bore the a.ppearance 

 of external injury fi'om small punctuv'cs." Aftei' its long 

 subterranean residence in the larvco state, the cicada, i)rc- 

 paratory to entering the pupal form, gradually ascends to- 

 wards the surface by uu;aus of cylindiical burrows, the 

 sides of which, according to IJr. Potter, are cemented and 

 varnished, S(; as to bo waterproof. The lower portions of 

 these burrows ai'o filled with earthy matter, removed by the 

 insect in its upward course ; the upper portion, to the extent 

 of six or eight inclios, forms a chamber for the pupa, llei'c 

 the cicada remains for several days, ascending occasionally 

 to the mouth of the hole for warmth and air; sometimes 

 peeping out in fine weather, but retiring to a lower depth 

 in cold or wet weather. Its form as pupa is still somewhat 

 grub-liko, but the prominences containing the future wings 

 arc more largely developed. When the favourable mouuait 

 for final emergence arrives, the insect issues from the ground 

 during the night, and crawls up the trunk of a tree, or upon 

 some other object to which it can fasten itself with its claws 

 It then ])roparcs to cast off the pu])a skin, which at length 



