THE CICADA. 41 



plete metamorphosis. The pupa of the Cicada is 

 very unlike the imago, but as is the case with 

 the pupa of other Hemiptera, it has no period of in- 

 activity. 



The name Hemiptera means half wings, and refers 

 to the texture of the different parts of tlie fore wings 

 on the giant water bug, or still better, the squash bug. 

 The name for the order is not a good one, for some of 

 the insects of this order have no wings ; in some , as in 

 the Cicada, the wings are uniform in texture through- 

 out. The order is now commonly separated into two 

 divisions : Heteroptera, represented by the giant water 

 bug ; and Homoptera, represented by the Cicada. 



Among the Hemiptera we- find some of the 

 strangest forms known among insects. Especially 

 is this true of the tree hoppers, the wheel bug, and 

 the water scorpion. 



"We find also among the Hemiptera some of the 

 most destructive insects. In some years the chinch 

 bug has destroyed crops, principally of wheat and 

 corn, whose value would amount to many millions of 

 dollars. It produces the injury by piercing the stalk 

 of the plant with the beak and sucking out the 

 juices. • 



Among the plant lice, especially, we find examples 

 of a method of reproduction that is quite unusual 

 among animals so highly organized. In nearly all 

 animals, the individuals are male and female. Ordi- 

 narily, the eggs of the female will not hatch, or pro- 

 duce young, unless they are fertilized by the male. 

 But we find that several generations of plant lice may 

 be produced in one season without fertilization by 

 any male. This process of reproduction without 

 fertilization by a male is called Parthenogenesis. 

 Generally, at the close of a summer a sexual genera- 

 tion is produced and fertilization occurs in the 

 ordinary way. 



