390 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1910. 
its front feet and claws on the curry combs of its face, just as did 
those confined to the glass tubes to give a demonstration of their 
digging methods. The front feet done, the hind ones are next at- 
tended to. Fii-st one and then the other is slowly flexed and then 
straightened backward {3) while the foot scrapes over the side of 
the abdomen. Several times these acts are repeated calmly and 
deliberately^, for it is an important thing that the claws be well 
freed from anj'^ particles of dry earth that might impair their grip 
on the support. At last the toilet is completed, though the middle 
feet are always neglected, and the pupa feels about on the twig, 
grasping now here, now there, till its claws take a firm hold on the 
bark. At the same time it sways the body gently from side to side 
as if trying to settle comfortably for the next act. 
Thirty-five minutes were consumed in the above preliminaries and 
there is now a 10-minute interval of quietude before the real show 
begins. Then suddenly the pupa humps its back (4) , the skin splits 
along the mid line of the thorax (J), the rupture extending forward 
over the top of the head and rearward into the first segment of the 
abdomen. A creamy white back, stamped with two large jet black 
spots, now bulges out {6, 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 {10)^ then four legs {11)^ while four long, glistening white 
threads pull out of the body of the issuing creature, but remain at- 
tached to the empty shell. These are the linings of the thoracic air 
tubes being shed with, the pupal skin. Now the body hangs back 
down, when all the legs come free (^^), and now it sags perilously 
{13) as the wings begin to expand and visibly lengthen. 
Here another rest intervenes; perhaps 25 minutes may elapse, 
Avhile the soft new creature, like an inverted 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 puj^a 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 {H)-, grasps the head and shoulders of the slough 
{15) , and pulls the rear parts of its body free from the gaping skin 
{16). The body straightens and hangs downward {17). At last we 
behold the free imago, not yet mature but rapidly assuming tlie char- 
acters of an adult cicada. The new creature hangs for a while from 
the discarded shell-like pupal skin, clinging by the front and middle 
legs, sometimes by the first alone, the hind ones spread out sideways 
or bent against the body, rarely grasping the skin. The wings con- 
tinue to unfold and lengthen, finally hang flat, fully formed, but soft 
