TRANSFORMATION TO THE ADl'LT STAGE. 61 
The ovipositor having been removed as the probable source of sting- 
ing, the beak only remains, and it is unquestionably by means of this 
instrument that practically all the so-called stings of the Cicada are 
made. The structure of the beak has already been discussed, and it is 
not at all improbable, though certainly a rare occurrence, that the Cica- 
da, when held or caught, may thrust out the slender setae and puncture 
the skin. Many other Hemipterous insects are known to "sting" in 
this way and to cause some severe momentary pain. The sensitive- 
ness of the individual is, however, in the case of the Cicada, the sole 
criterion of injury. The authentic reports of Cicada stings show some 
variations in the effects, but, as a rule, the result is much less serious 
than the sting of a bee, and not much more than the puncture of a 
needle, the wound usually healing immediately. 
TRANSFORMATION TO THE ADULT STAGE. 
PERIOD OF EMERGENCE. 
The date of the issuing of the Cicadas from the ground after their 
long concealment varies a little with the latitude, being later in the 
North than in the South. In the accounts of this insect published by 
Professor Eiley and most other writers up to the present time it has 
been stated that there is very little divergence iu the time of issuing 
between the northern and the southern broods, the latter half, or more 
strictly the last week, of May being the normal period for the emergence 
of the insect throughout its range. That there may be, however, a 
considerable difference in time, depending on elevation and temperature, 
in a given district and in the northern and southern parts of the 
country, also determined undoubtedly by temperature, has been fully 
established. The variation in the dates of appearance is illustrated 
by the following records. 
Dr. Phares, writing of the occurrence of Brood VI in 1871, states 
that a few males began to appear about the 20th of April, bnt that the 
bulk of the brood did not emerge until the 7th and 8th of May. when 
they came forth from the earth in vast numbers, continuing to emerge 
in diminishing numbers until the 18th of May. It will be remembered 
that this is the most southern of all the broods — lying in the southwest 
corner of Mississippi and the adjoining parts of Louisiana. 
Mr. Johu Bartram, writing of the brood appearing in 1749, States 
that in the neighborhood of Philadelphia an abundance of these insects 
which had just escaped from their skins were observed on the morning 
of May 10, and that they continued to issue in great numbers tot a 
week or more, beginning to sing on the L3th and to oviposit on the 16th, 
and disappearing altogether by the 8th of Jane. 
In the great brood year of 1868 Professor Riley noted that in the 
vicinity of St. Louis "they commenced to issue on the l'lM o\' May. and 
by the 25th of the same month the woods resounded with the rattling 
concourse of perfect Insects." At Washington, 1>. C, in the Cicada 
