THE CICADA. 



The Cicada, or harveat-fly, will farniali material for an interest- 

 ing lesaon. An abundance of the cast-off pnpa skins can be col- 

 lected by the children, and will not only show perfectly the ap- 

 pearance of the pnpa, bnt will ^ve an excellent idea of the horny 

 external skeleton of an insect and the complete manner in which it 

 is stripped off to allow for growth. 



The body is broad and short. The eyes (Fig. 1, ey) 

 stand out on the sides of the head, and there are three 

 simple eyes between them. The antennae (at) are like 

 bristles. The first and second rings of the thorax (h' and 

 h") are very broad ; the third is very narrow, because it 

 carries only the small hind wings. 



Fig. 1. 

 There are light spots on the head and thorax, and on the Beoond 

 ring of the thorax a marking that looks like the letter W. This 

 mark was long supposed to stand for the word War, and made the 

 superstitions believe the harvest-fly an insect of ill omen. 



The wings slope like a roof over the sides of the body, 

 and both pairs are thin. The veins of the fore wings 

 are very large and strong. The abdomen ends in an egg- 



103 



