214 



H E MI P T E E A . 



which has implanted in them an unerring guide, where rea- 

 son, the senses, and the appetites "would fail to direct them. 

 The manner of the voung Cicadas' descent, so different from 

 that of other insects, and seeming to require a special in- 

 stinct to this end, would be considered incredible, perhaps, 

 if it had not been ascertained and repeatedly confirmed by 

 persons who have witnessed the proceeding. On reaching 

 the ground the insects immediately bury themselves in the 

 soil, burrowing by means of their broad and strong fore feet, 

 which, like those of the mole, are admirably adapted for dig- 

 ging. In their descent into the earth they seem to follow the 



Pig. 87. 



roots of plants, and are subsequently found attached to those 

 which are most tender and succulent, perforating them with 

 their beaks, and thus imbibing; the vegetable iuices which 

 constitute their sole nourishment. (Fig. 87.) 



Miss Margaretta H. Morris, who attributes the decline of 

 the pear-tree and the failure of its fruits to depredations of 

 the young Cicadas on its roots, has given interesting accounts 

 of her observations upon these insects. On removing the 

 earth from " a pear-tree that had been declining for years, 

 without any apparent cause," she " found the larvae of the 

 Cicada in countless numbers clino-ino- to the roots of the tree, 

 with their suckers piercing the bark, and so deep and firmly 

 placed, that they remained hanging for half an hour after 

 being removed from the earth. From a root a vard long, 



