﻿REPORT 
  OF 
  THE 
  STATE 
  ENTOMOLOGIST 
  283 
  

  

  May 
  or 
  early 
  June. 
  If 
  the 
  insect 
  spends 
  a 
  week 
  or 
  more 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  

   of 
  the 
  surface, 
  it 
  is 
  manifest 
  that 
  a 
  burrow 
  capped 
  with 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  cham- 
  

   bers 
  would 
  be 
  more 
  secure 
  than 
  an 
  open 
  one. 
  There 
  are 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  

   causes 
  that 
  might 
  hasten 
  this 
  upward 
  movement; 
  ^. 
  ^., 
  the 
  amount 
  of 
  

   water 
  in 
  the 
  soil, 
  a 
  greater 
  supply 
  of 
  food 
  nearer 
  the 
  surface, 
  a 
  restless- 
  

   ness 
  of 
  the 
  insect 
  as 
  the 
  time 
  for 
  its 
  emergence 
  approaches 
  — 
  often 
  ob- 
  

   served 
  in 
  other 
  insects, 
  etc. 
  The 
  building 
  of 
  chambers 
  at 
  the 
  

   surface 
  may 
  not 
  be 
  so 
  exceptional 
  as 
  at 
  first 
  appears. 
  There 
  are 
  several 
  

   records 
  of 
  their 
  being 
  found 
  in 
  limited 
  numbers 
  under 
  fallen 
  leaves 
  in 
  

   forests, 
  and 
  slightly 
  above 
  the 
  surface 
  in 
  cultivated 
  fields 
  — 
  in 
  the 
  latter 
  

   place 
  hardly 
  noticed 
  until 
  disturbed 
  by 
  the 
  cultivator. 
  It 
  is 
  probable 
  that 
  

   they 
  would 
  have 
  been 
  found 
  in 
  many 
  other 
  localities 
  than 
  those 
  recorded^ 
  

   had 
  search 
  been 
  made. 
  Their 
  being 
  so 
  often 
  reported 
  in 
  1894 
  on 
  tracts 
  

   recently 
  burned 
  over 
  may 
  be 
  entirely 
  owing 
  to 
  their 
  ready 
  exposure 
  to 
  

   the 
  eye 
  in 
  such 
  localities. 
  

  

  First 
  Notice 
  of 
  the 
  Chambers. 
  

   The 
  earliest 
  notice 
  that 
  we 
  have 
  of 
  these 
  Cicada 
  chambers 
  is 
  that 
  of 
  

   observations 
  made 
  by 
  Mr. 
  S. 
  S. 
  Rathvon, 
  of 
  Lancaster, 
  Pa., 
  which 
  were 
  

   communicated 
  to 
  Prof. 
  Riley 
  and 
  published 
  by 
  him 
  in 
  his 
  First 
  Report 
  

   on 
  the 
  Insects 
  of 
  Missou?i, 
  accompanied 
  by 
  figures 
  of 
  a 
  chamber 
  received 
  

   fiom 
  Mr. 
  Rathvon. 
  Prof. 
  Riley 
  mentions 
  his 
  having 
  previously 
  found 
  

   them 
  in 
  a 
  field 
  being 
  plowed 
  near 
  St. 
  Louis, 
  Mo. 
  The 
  only 
  other 
  pub- 
  

   lished 
  notice 
  of 
  the 
  chambers 
  prior 
  to 
  the 
  widespread 
  interest 
  excited 
  by 
  

   their 
  occurrence 
  in 
  many 
  places 
  in 
  the 
  State 
  of 
  New 
  York 
  in 
  1894, 
  ap- 
  

   pears 
  to 
  be 
  one 
  by 
  Prof. 
  J. 
  S. 
  Newberry, 
  who 
  in 
  1877 
  had 
  his 
  attention 
  

   called 
  to 
  their 
  discovery 
  in 
  a 
  cellar 
  in 
  New 
  Jersey, 
  and 
  nine 
  years 
  later 
  

   published 
  an 
  account 
  of 
  them 
  in 
  the 
  School 
  of 
  Mines 
  Quarterly, 
  vol. 
  VII, 
  

   1886, 
  pp. 
  152-154. 
  As 
  the 
  communication 
  is 
  an 
  interesting 
  one 
  and 
  not 
  

   easily 
  accessible, 
  it 
  is 
  given 
  herewith: 
  

  

  U?ieducated 
  Reason 
  ifi 
  the 
  Cicada, 
  

  

  In 
  1877, 
  a 
  colony 
  of 
  the 
  seventeen-year 
  locusts 
  [Cicada 
  septe7idecini) 
  

   appeared 
  at 
  Rahway, 
  N. 
  J. 
  During 
  the 
  interval 
  between 
  the 
  appearance 
  

   of 
  that 
  and 
  the 
  preceding 
  generation, 
  the 
  town 
  had 
  been 
  extended, 
  and 
  

   some 
  houses 
  had 
  been 
  erected 
  where 
  forests 
  or 
  fields 
  existed 
  before. 
  

  

  One 
  of 
  these 
  houses 
  — 
  that 
  belonging 
  to 
  Mr. 
  Alonzo 
  Jaques 
  — 
  was 
  

   constructed 
  on 
  the 
  site 
  of 
  an 
  old 
  orchard, 
  and 
  had 
  a 
  shallow 
  cellar. 
  

   This 
  cellar 
  was 
  kept 
  closed 
  till 
  about 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  the 
  advent 
  of 
  the 
  

   Cicadas; 
  the 
  door 
  was 
  then 
  opened, 
  and 
  the 
  bottom 
  of 
  the 
  cellar 
  was 
  

   found 
  to 
  be 
  thickly 
  set 
  with 
  mud-cones 
  or 
  tubes, 
  from 
  six 
  to 
  eight 
  inches 
  

   high, 
  an 
  inch 
  to 
  an 
  inch 
  and 
  a 
  half 
  in 
  diameter, 
  each 
  of 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  

  

  