C. obtusa (Say), a common species, feeds on various shrubs and 
trees, including hickory, birch, and alder. The pecan spittlebug, 
C. achatina Germ., is occasionally a serious pest of pecan in the 
Midwest. It feeds on the terminals, sometimes killing fruit- 
producing shoots. The dogwood spittlebug, C. proteus nigricollis 
Fitch, has been recorded on pine. Omalophora salicis (DeG.) fre- 
quently occurs in large numbers on willow. The meadow spittlebug, 
Philaenus spumarius (L.), occasionally feeds on Scotch pine in the 
Northeast. 
FAMILY CICADIDAE 
CICADAS 
Cicadas are the largest of all of the order Homoptera occurring 
in the United States. The adults are stocky, heavy-bodied insects 
with large compound eyes and membranous wings, and some 
reach a length of 50 mm. There are two common types, (1) the 
dog-day cicadas, often called harvest flies, and (2) the periodical 
cicada, also known as 17-year locusts. The dog-day group contains 
large blackish species, usually with greenish markings. The life 
cycle lasts from 2 to 5 years but, because of overlapping broods, 
some adults appear every year. Periodical cicadas differ from the 
dog-day group in being smaller and in having reddish eyes, red- 
dish legs, and reddish wing veins. The life cycle is 18 years in the 
South and 17 years in the North. 
Cicadas deposit their eggs in the twigs of trees and shrubs and 
often damage twigs so severely that their terminal portions 
die. When the eggs hatch the young nymphs drop to the ground, 
enter the soil, and feed on roots. Here the nymph remains until 
ready to molt for the last time, years later. Before molting, it 
emerges from the ground and climbs upon some object, usually 
the trunk of a tree, fastens its claws in the bark, and molts. The 
adults of some species live 5 to 6 weeks. 
The periodical cicada, Magicicada septendecim (L.) (fig. 17 A), 
is widely distributed in Eastern United States and it lays its eggs 
in more than 70 species of trees and other plants. The most sus- 
ceptible of the trees appear to be the oaks, hickory, honeylocust, 
dogwood, apple, and peach; however, many others such as sweet- 
gum, elm, ash, yellow-poplar, walnut, sycamore, and redbud may 
also be heavily attacked. Adults are about 40 mm. long. The 
female is completely black on top, but the male has 4 or 5 
orange-brown abdominal segments on top. 
The female uses a sawlike ovipositor to puncture the bark and 
make a pocket in the wood in which she deposits from 24 to 28 
eggs in two rows. She may then proceed along the twig and repeat 
the process until she has deposited about 5 to 20 batches of eggs. 
Sometimes the punctures are placed so close together that the 
wounds appear as a single slit up to 3 inches long (fig. 17 B). 
When the eggs hatch, the nymphs fall to and enter the ground 
where they feed on suitable roots. Usually they are found at 
depths of 18 to 24 inches beneath the surface. When they become 
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