THE SONG NOTES. D i 
which, if closed artificially or by the insect, deaden the sound rery 
much, or if opened or cut off, allow it to escape in greater volume. In 
singing, also, the insect modifies the song notes and their volume by 
raising and loweringthe abdomen, thus opening and closing these d 
and the act of singing is also accompanied by a sort of trembling of 
the thorax. The position assumed by the male when singing is always 
with the head upward. The abdomen is then elevated and apparently 
inflated, and with the beginning of the sound is slowly brought down 
against the limb, when the note ceases. After a rest of a few seconds this 
operation is repeated. These abdominal movements vary in different 
species of Cicada and determine in a measure the peculiar notes of each. 
THE SONG NOTES OF THE PERIODICAL CICADA. 
The sony of the different species of Cicadas is very distinctive, and 
one familiar with the music of these insects can as readily recognize 
the particular species by its peculiar notes as one knows the different 
birds or mammals by theirs. The general character of the notes of the 
periodical species has been thus described by Dr. Smith: 1 
The- music or song produced l>y the myriads of these insects in a warm day from 
about the 25th of May to the middle of June is wonderful. It is not deafening 
many describe it: even at its height it does ii»>t interrupt ordinary conversation. It 
-'■ems like an atmosphere of wild, monotonous sound, in which all other Bounds float 
with perfect distinctness. After a day or two this music becomes tiresome and dole- 
ful, and to many very disagreeable. To me it was otherwise, and when I heard the 
last note <>n the 25th of June the melancholy reflection occurred — shall I live to hear 
it again ? 
As one approaches a colony of these insects a peculiar roar, not unlike 
the noise of a factory or a distant reaper, falls on the ears, and this 
becomes louder and more intense as one draws nearer, having at times 
when standing in the midst of a colony a peculiar all-pervading and 
penetrating effect. The individual notes are somewhat obscured under 
these circumstances, but in the lulls the characteristic sounds strike 
the ear and the peculiarity is never to be forgotten, especially the 
mournful falling note at the conclusion of each effort. Nearly all the 
principal writers on the Cicada, and notably Totter. Smith, and Fitch, 
have attempted to analyze the song note of this insect, but the most 
careful study made is that by Professor Riley, 2 who distinguishes three 
important notes as characteristic of different seasons or conditions of 
the aei ial life of the male insect. 
The loudest and most characteristic note, and the one which is per- 
haps most familiar to tin' popular mind, is the note described by Fitch as 
''represented by the letters tsh-e-e E 1". E-E-e-OU, uttered continuously 
and prolonged to a quarter or hall minute in length, the middle note 
deafeningly shrill, loud, and piercing to the ear. and its termination 
gradually lowered until the sound expires." The length of this note 
Scientific American. March 22, 1851. 
Science, September 25, I v 
