THE ADULT INSECT AND ITS HABITS. 71 
during all this time the legs are "becoming firmer and assnming the ultimate ]»o-i- 
tions. .Suddenly the imago bends apward with ;i good d<:il of effort, and, clinging 
^vith its legs to the first object reached, whether leaf, twig, or ita own shell, with. 
draws entirely from tbe exnvinm and hangfl for the first time with it> bead up 
(frontispiece, figs. 7 and 8). Now the wings perceptibly Bwell (frontispiece, fi<j. Xj 
and expand until they are fully stretched and hang flatly over tin- back, perfectly 
transparent, with beautiful white veining (frontispiece, fig. 9). As they dry they 
assume tbe roofed position (frontispiece, tig. 10), and during the night the natural 
colors of the Bpecies are gradually assumed 'frontispiece, fig. 11). 
The time required in the transformation varies, and. though for tbe splitting of the 
skin and tbe full stretching of the wings in the flat position the time is usually about 
twenty minutes, it may be, under precisely similar conditions, five or six tin i 
long. But there are few more beautiful sights than To see this fresh forming Cicada 
in all tbe different positions, clinging and clustering in great numbers to the outside 
lower leaves and branches of a large tree. In the moonlight such a tree looks for 
all tbe world as though it were full of beautiful white blossoms in various, stages of 
expansion. 
THE ADULT INSECT AND ITS HABITS. 
Perhaps a better idea of the immense numbers in which these insects 
appear than lias been elsewhere given may be gained by quoting some 
figures given by Mr. McCook. Under one tree he counted 9,000 burrows, 
and under another, a small birch, the number of exit holes was estimated 
at 22,500: and since many of the burrows interlaced underground, and 
several insects emerged from the same opening, even these figures do 
not indicate the actual numbers. In another case 668 openings were 
counted in a space 10 feet by 4 feet, and 17 distinct openings in a space 
G inches square. 
Mr. Davis, referring to Brood XII on Staten Island in 1801. says: 
"About some of the trees the pupa shells became so numerous that 
they completely hid the ground itself. At dusk the sound of the many 
insects climbing up the tree trunks was quite audible, particularly 
vigorous pupa' ascending the trees to the height of 30 feet." 
As noted by Mr. Farmsley, of Louisville, Ky., the Cicadas do not 
appear very numerously on tops of mountains within an infested area, 
but gradually decrease in numbers as one ascends, the greater scarcity 
being noticeable both to the eye and the ear. the rattling chorus 
growing less and less strong. 
On the authority of Mr. Hopkins, the diminishing of the Cicada in 
numbers as one ascends to higher elevations is apparently not always 
true. Mr. Hopkins describes driving for a day through the Cicada 
district of West Virginia in 1897, on the occasion of the reappearance 
of the 17-year Brood XV, and states that as he approached the eastern 
borders of Preston County the Cicadas became more numerous, and as 
the mountain west of Cranesville was ascended the Cicada was found, 
at an elevation of 2,000 to 2,800 feet, to occur in far greater numl 
than at any point previously traversed. The leaves and twigs of the 
trees were Literally covered with the insects and the twigs were bend- 
