﻿282 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  interesting 
  observations 
  of 
  Mr. 
  Law 
  ton 
  on 
  the 
  repairing 
  of 
  injured 
  cham- 
  

   bers. 
  He 
  found 
  that 
  in 
  every 
  case, 
  except 
  one, 
  the 
  pupae 
  repaired 
  

   them 
  soon 
  after 
  the 
  injury 
  by 
  bringing 
  up 
  pellets 
  of 
  mud 
  and 
  roof- 
  

   ing 
  over 
  the 
  broken 
  portion 
  about 
  half 
  an 
  inch 
  from 
  the 
  top. 
  The 
  

   repairs 
  were 
  begun 
  on 
  one 
  side 
  and 
  gradually 
  extended 
  over 
  the 
  open- 
  

   ing 
  horizontally, 
  there 
  being 
  no 
  attempt 
  to 
  form 
  a 
  dome-shaped 
  roof. 
  

   Some 
  of 
  the 
  chambers 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  broken 
  off 
  at 
  12 
  : 
  15 
  P. 
  M.., 
  were 
  

   found 
  with 
  a 
  few 
  pellets 
  in 
  position 
  at 
  12 
  : 
  45, 
  and 
  three 
  hours 
  later 
  the 
  

   opening 
  was 
  entirely 
  closed 
  over. 
  At 
  one 
  time 
  a 
  pupa 
  was 
  caught 
  with 
  

   a 
  pellet 
  of 
  mud 
  in 
  its 
  claws. 
  

  

  When 
  the 
  time 
  for 
  the 
  iinal 
  transformation 
  has 
  come, 
  the 
  pupa 
  

   makes 
  its 
  way 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  chamber 
  through 
  a 
  rounded 
  hole 
  made 
  by 
  it 
  

   near 
  the 
  top, 
  of 
  a 
  size 
  barely 
  sufficient 
  to 
  admit 
  its 
  passage. 
  

  

  The 
  Purpose 
  of 
  the 
  Chambers. 
  

  

  Most 
  of 
  the 
  habits 
  of 
  animals 
  are 
  of 
  direct 
  advantage 
  to 
  them, 
  or 
  else 
  

   they 
  may 
  be 
  explained 
  as 
  the 
  persistence 
  of 
  some 
  formerly 
  useful, 
  but 
  

   which 
  under 
  changed 
  conditions 
  are 
  no 
  longer 
  of 
  value. 
  The 
  Cicada 
  

   buildings 
  were 
  first 
  found 
  on 
  low 
  wet 
  soil 
  after 
  heavy 
  rains, 
  and 
  the 
  

   natural 
  inference 
  was 
  that 
  they 
  were 
  constructed 
  for 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  escap- 
  

   ing 
  excessive 
  moisture 
  or 
  flooding. 
  In 
  1894, 
  they 
  were 
  first 
  noticed 
  on 
  

   tracts 
  recently 
  burned 
  over, 
  or 
  in 
  places 
  where 
  the 
  soil 
  was 
  comparatively 
  

   shallow. 
  The 
  early 
  spring 
  had 
  been 
  unusually 
  warm, 
  and 
  the 
  theory 
  was 
  

   advanced 
  that 
  these 
  structures 
  were 
  reared 
  to 
  protect 
  the 
  insects 
  from 
  the 
  

   heat 
  — 
  the 
  elevation 
  and 
  slope 
  <of 
  the 
  land 
  in 
  many 
  cases 
  rendering 
  the 
  

   earlier 
  theory 
  untenable. 
  Unfortunately 
  for 
  this 
  explanation, 
  the 
  pupae 
  

   persisted 
  in 
  building 
  their 
  above-ground 
  chambers 
  where 
  the 
  soil 
  was 
  far 
  

   from 
  shallow 
  — 
  under 
  the 
  leaves 
  in 
  woods 
  not 
  recently 
  burned 
  over, 
  

   and 
  in 
  other 
  places 
  where 
  the 
  ground 
  would 
  not 
  become 
  unnaturally 
  

   heated. 
  It 
  should 
  also 
  be 
  remembered 
  that 
  the 
  pupae 
  had 
  only 
  to 
  

   descend 
  to 
  a 
  moderate 
  depth 
  if 
  uncomfortably 
  warm, 
  and 
  that 
  in 
  open 
  

   fields, 
  at 
  least, 
  the 
  above-ground 
  chambers 
  would 
  be 
  much 
  warmer 
  on 
  

   a 
  sunny 
  day 
  than 
  a 
  subterranean 
  burrow. 
  Moreover, 
  their 
  occurrence, 
  

   sometimes 
  almost 
  covering 
  large 
  tracts, 
  and 
  again 
  alternating 
  with 
  open 
  

   burrows 
  or 
  disappearing 
  altogether, 
  renders 
  a 
  broad 
  generalization 
  con- 
  

   cerning 
  their 
  purpose 
  extremely 
  unsafe. 
  

  

  It 
  may 
  be, 
  as 
  suggested 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Lander, 
  that 
  the 
  above-ground 
  cham- 
  

   bers 
  are 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  those 
  coming 
  to 
  the 
  surface 
  earlier 
  than 
  the 
  proper 
  

   time 
  for 
  their 
  final 
  change, 
  as 
  they 
  were 
  probably 
  built 
  in 
  April 
  or 
  early 
  in 
  

   May, 
  while 
  the 
  imago 
  did 
  not 
  appear 
  as 
  a 
  rule 
  until 
  the 
  latter 
  part 
  of 
  

  

  