THE PERIODICAL CICADA 



the insect humps its back (,/), the skin splits along the 

 midline of the thorax (5), the rupture extending forward 

 over the top of the head and rearward into the first seg- 

 ment of the abdomen. A creamy white back, stamped 

 with two large jet-black spots, now bulges out ((5, 7); 

 next comes a head with two brilliant red eyes (8); this is 

 followed by the front part of a body (9) which bends 

 backward and pulls out legs and bases of wings. Soon 

 one leg is free (/o), then four legs (//), while four long, 

 glistening white threads pull out of the body of the issuing 

 creature but remain attached to the empty shell. These 

 are the linings of the thoracic air tubes being shed with 

 the nymphal skin. Xow the bodv hangs back down, 

 when all the legs come free (12), and now it sags peril- 

 ously (/j) as the wings begin to expand and visibly 

 lengthen. 



Here another rest intervenes; perhaps twentv-five min- 

 utes may elapse, while the soft new creature, like an in- 

 verted gargoyle supported only by the rear end of its 

 body, hangs motionless far out from the split in the back 

 of the shell. Now we understand why the nymph took 

 such pains to get a firm anchorage, for, should the dead 

 claws give way at this critical stage, the resulting fall 

 most probably would prove fatal. 



The next act begins abruptly. The gargoyle moves 

 again, bends its body upward (/</), grasps the head and 

 shoulders of the slough (/j), and pulls the rear parts 

 of its body free from the gaping skin {16). The body 

 straightens and hangs downward (//). At last we be- 

 hold the free imago, not yet mature but rapidly assum- 

 ing the characters of an adult cicada. The new creature 

 hangs for a while from the discarded shell-like skin, 

 clinging by the front and middle legs, sometimes by the 

 first alone; the hind ones spread out sideways or bend 

 against the body, rarely grasping the skin. The wings 

 continue to unfold and lengthen, finally hang flat, fully 

 formed, but soft and white (iS). Here the creature 



[ J 97] 



