THE S()-('ALLKI) STINc;. 87 
There is not a particle^ of ('\i(l(MU'(\ howcNcr. lo show ilmt siidi pciic- 
tratiiitx i^ atteiulcHl with tlic injiM-tion of any poisonous Ihiid, mid the 
injurious conseciuences which lollow them in rare cases aic cNidciiiK 
due to unusual s(Misitiveness on the j)art of the in(h\i(hial. as su<^^cst(Ml 
hy Doctor Sniitli, or a l)a(l condition of the hlood. whicli would cause 
any wound to \)o aWcwdod witli scM'ious consecjucnccs. In this con- 
nection it is to he i'(Mn(Mnhered that there ai-c well-authenticated 
instances of most serious, if not fatal, results I'ollow in^r the hites of 
such insects as the mosquito, and other ])itino; flies, the result of tlie 
bites of which are very trivial in connnon experience. 
With all the reports of stings by the Cicada which have heen made 
it is not to be ({uestioned that some of them have a basis in fact. As 
suggested by Doctor Smith, and afterwards fully elaboi-atcd by 
Doctor Walsh," many of these reports are undoubtedly cases of w long 
determination, and the stinging had probably no direct connect ion w ith 
the Cicada. There are, for example, several large digger was])s which 
provision their larval galleries with adult cicadas for the maintenance 
of their young. One of the commonest of the digger wasps is the 
species S phecius speclosus Dru., described later on under the heading of 
the enemies of the Cicada (pp. 132-134). As fhst suggested by Doctor 
Smith, and afterwards more fully shown by Doctor Walsh, it is not 
unlikely that this or some allied w-asp, flying with its rath(^r hc^av}^ 
burden, might strike against or alight on some human bemg, and upon 
being brushed off would retaliate by stinging the offender and then 
flying away, leaving the Cicada behind. In the absence of the wasp 
the Cicada would ver}^ naturally be accused of the ofl'ense. The usual 
prey of this wasp, which appears rather too late in the season to 
account for all the cases of stinging reported, is the later appearing 
annual cicadas. 
The rare cases of stinging by the Cicada that have any basis in fact 
may be accounted for, as already suggested, by a thrust either of the 
ovipositor or the sucking beak. 
From the structure of the ovipositor, as already described, it w ill at 
once be perceived that there is nothing impossible in a woimd IxMug 
made by this instrument. The objections to this suggestion aie that 
the ovipositor when not in use in placing eggs in twigs is concealed in 
a sheath in the insect's abdomen, and also that the pieicing of a twig 
or other sui)stance by the ovipositor is a slow and laboi-ious ])r()cess, / 
and therefore would not account for the ((uick sting usually (](\sci-il)ed. 
In no case has an egg been found in the flesh, and in fact it is imj)i()b- 
able that an insect would Ix* allowed to rest long enough on the fhvsh 
to accomplish the insertion of an egg. b'urtherniore. t(\sts were made 
and reported by Doctor Walsh '' and later by Professor Riley, showing 
"American Entomologist, I. \)\). 7, S. ScplciiilxT. ISHS. ^ T>i)c. cil. 
