THE CICADA 



77 



form remains underground from two to three years, the latter 

 part of this time as an inactive pupa. During the latter stage 

 it lies dormant in an ovoid area excavated by it. Eventually 

 the wings (which are budlike in the pupa) grow larger, and the 

 adult beetle emerges fitted 

 for its life in the open air. 



This group of insects in- 

 clude some of man's best 

 friends, as the ladybird 

 beetle, and some of his 

 worst enemies, as the po- 

 tato beetle. 



Life history of the ci- 

 cada. The seventeen-year 

 cicada lays her eggs in slits 

 which she makes in the 

 twigs of trees. Immedi- 

 ately after hatching, the 

 young drop to the ground 

 and bury themselves in the * 



, rp, . , , » The full grown larva of the Colorado potato beetle 



earth. lney Stay there IOr drops to the ground and burrows in the soil, forming 



seventeen years. In the a pupa. 



South these insects live only thirteen years underground. They 

 obtain their food by sucking the juices from the roots of plants. 

 During this stage they somewhat resemble the grub of the beetle 

 (June bug) in habits and appearance. When they are about to 

 molt into an adult, they climb above the ground, and fasten 

 themselves to some firm object, as a wooden fence or a tree 

 trunk. The skin then splits along the back and the adult cicada 

 emerges. 



Aphids. The aphids are among the most interesting of the 

 Homoptera. They are familiar to all as tiny green lice seen swarm- 

 ing on the stems and leaves of the rose and other cultivated plants. 

 They suck the juices from stem and leaf. Plant lice have a 

 remarkable life history. Early in the year the eggs develop into 

 wingless females which produce living young, all females. These 

 in turn reproduce in a similar manner, until the plant on which 



