72 



In the first of these divisions the Cicadse or Harvest flies find their appropriate place 

 — in fact the first section of Westwood's arrangement corresponds with Linne's genus Cicada, 

 or Litreille's family Cicadaires. The name of the Cicadse is supposed by some to be a 

 hybrid word derived from the Latin Ciccum = z. thin skin, and the Greek aSeiv = to please, 

 in reference to its song j others derive its name from the Latin words Cito Cadat, implying 

 that the perfect insects are short-lived. The Cicadidse are the largest insects in the sub- 

 order. In Westwood's Arcana Entomologica, PI. 51, there is a figure of a gigantic species 

 ( Cicada I?nperatoria, Westwood ) which measures eight inches and a quarter between the 

 tips of the outstretched wings, and in my own collection I have a very beautiful Indian 

 species which measures six inches. This latter belongs to a group of the Cicadidae, in 

 which the wings are opaque and more or less coriaceous ; the upper wings are of a dull, 

 reddish black, with the veins of a slightly lighter shade, and across the middle of them 

 there is a broad white band three-sixteenths of an inch wide ; the rest of the upper surface 

 is black, with the exception of a bright orange band across the prothorax. The eyes and 

 the abdomen are a rich brown and the underwings a deep velvety black. 



The Cicadidse have the head short and broad with two large prominent eyes and 

 three ocelli placed in a triangle between them ; usually the wings are completely mem- 

 branous, of a uniform consistence and delicately transparent, with few but distinct nerves. 

 There are. however, a few exceptions to this rule, as in the Indian genus Polyneura, where 

 the apical division of the wings is very thickly reticulated ; and in a small group of the 

 Cicadse where the hemelytra are wholly, or in part, of a coriaceous nature. The abdomen 

 is short and pointed, and the legs are short, the anterior femora are much thickened 

 and toothed beneath. The ovipositor of the female is a very interesting object. This 

 organ, which is the instrument with which the female places her eggs in a safe and proper 

 asylum to wait until they are hatched, is lodged in a sheath which lies in a groove of the 

 last ring of the abdomen. It is of equal thickness throughout, except at the tip, where it 

 is slightly enlarged and angular. On each side it bears a set of nineteen sharp teeth, very 

 fine at the point, and from that gradually increasing in size. The sheath is composed of 

 two horny pieces, slightly curved, and ending in the form of a long spoon, so that the con- 

 cave or hollow part may receive the convex or rounded part of the ovipositor. On exam- 

 ining this auger, for such it really is, under the microscope, it will be found to be three 

 pieces most beautifully fitted together — two outer ones which have an alternate and 

 separate motion, and on the outside edges of which the rows of teeth before men- 

 tioned are situated, and another fixed single piece, in between the other two, at the back, 

 to which they act as a sheath, but which in turn supports and keeps them in their proper 

 place by means of two internally-dilated lateral grooves, which receive the dilated edges of 

 the serrated pieces, and in which these slip up and down. This last supporting dorsal- 

 piece has a deep groove down its centre, and it is thought to consist of two separate pieces 

 firmlv soldered together, but which have not the slightest motion independent of each 

 other. This instrument is composed of a hard horny substance called chitine, the same as 

 are the stings of bees and wasps, and the ovipositors of Ichneumon flies. The auger of the 

 Cicada then consists of two sharp saws which work alternately, and a central supporting 

 dorsal-piece which holds them in their place and strengthens them. This instrument 

 somewhat resembles the saw of the saw-flies, but as it has slightly different work to per- 

 form it bears corresponding modifications. It would, however, be impossible to conceive 

 anything more exactly fitted for their required uses than these beautiful organs are. 



The most peculiar characteristic of this family however consists in the structure of the 

 musical instrument with which the males make the trilling sound for which they have been 

 famous since ancient times. These organs are internal, and consist of two stretched mem- 

 branes which are acted upon by two strong muscles, and the sound issues from two holes 

 beneath two special expansions of the metasternum, which both cover up and protect these 

 tympana or sound organs, and also act as sounding boards. The song varies much in the 

 different species, and it would appear that the voice of the European one must have a 

 much more grateful tone than that of his American cousin which we know, for we read 

 in Kirby and Spence that the song of the Cicada has been a favourite theme in the verses 



