THE PERIODICAL CICADA IX SOUTHEASTERN DsDIAXA. 



Bv Amos AV. Butler. Brookville, Ind. 



In presenting what I have to say concerning the Periodical Cicada. I 

 have tried not to follow in the footsteps of others. I have gathered 

 much information that is new to me, and, coupled with this, the fact that 

 these observations were made in a locality where this insect had not 

 been previously studied shall, I trust, assure me 3|our consideration. 



From our older inhabitants I learn the Cicada has heretofore ap- 

 peared in Franklin County in the years 1831:, 1851, and 1868. This 

 year I have received reports of its occurrence in the counties of Dear- 

 born, Decatur, Push, Union, Eipley, Franklin, Fayette, Wayne, and 

 Delaware. The latter, however, is not one of the counties in the south- 

 eastern part of the State. In Delaware County my informant reports 

 it as "not abundant"; in Union County it was very common; and, I 

 should think, was as numerous in Dearborn and Eipley Counties. In 

 this county and in Fayette it was at no place as common as was ex- 

 pected. We are entirely without the range of the thirteen -year race. 



The regularity of its appearance in certain localities is very interest- 

 ing. Dr. George Sutton, of Aurora, writes me: "In 1851 the first I 

 saw fully developed was on the 24th of May. In 1S68 I first saw them 

 on the 28th of May. This year I discovered them on the 29th of May, 

 although there was evidence that a few had made their appearance a 

 day or so before." Its appearance in Franklin County this year was 

 very irregular. The first representatives appeared in a few localities 

 on May 28, and in such localities Cicadas were rather common two days 

 later. In other places, less than half a mile from those just mentioned, 

 no Cicadas appeared until June 1, and in other neighborhoods they were 

 even alter in coming forth. 



Many pupae were turned up by the plow in April and May. When 

 these insects emerge from the ground it is with a rush, and a lively 

 scramble ensues for each elevation near the point of their emergence. 

 Trees, bushes, weeds, poles, stumps, fences — in short, everything upon 

 which they can get above the level of their recent homes is ascended. 

 A friend tells me that his hogs thought so much of the Cicadas as an 

 article of food that they would not return to their accustomed feeding 



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