134 
THE PERIODICAL CICADA. 
entrance is easy, and slowly feeds on the soft, juicy interior. The 
larya remains outside of the Cicada tliroughout its life, but by means 
of its yerv' extensile anterior segments, or neck, thrusts its small head 
throughout the mterior of the Cicada and trradually exhausts the soft 
parts until the Cicada l)ecomes a mere broken 
shell. The wasp larya increases in size yery 
rapidly, ultimately attainmg a length of 1^ to 2 
mches. It Ls then nearly white m color, with 
the head and mouth parts remarkably well 
deyeloped and the anterior segments narrowed 
and capable of yery great extension. The whole 
transformation from the egg to the full-g^o^\^l 
larya is comprised in a yery brief period, the egg, 
hatchmg after two or three days and the laryal 
life not much exceeding a week. 
Wlien fully grown the larya constructs a co- 
coon in a yery peculiar mamier. First a cylm- 
der, open at both ends, is formed of earth with 
enough silk mcorporated to form a rather dense and tough pod. 
When the cocoon is nearly completed the ends are capped, and the 
larya remains unchanged oyer ^\dnter and transforms to a pupa in the 
spring or early summer shortly before the appearance of the mature 
a 
Fig. 60.— o, cocoon of Sphecius, 
natural size; b, enlarged sec- 
tion of pore. (After Riley.) 
Fig. 01.— Mite egg parasite, OribaieUa 
(Author's illustration). 
Fig. 62. — Mite egg parasite, Oripoiia 
elongata. (Author's illustration). 
insect. About the center of the cocoon are a number of yery curious 
structures which may serye as breathing pores until the larya has 
become accustomed to its new conditions, since they are ultuuatcly 
sealed oyer, as represented in the illustration (fig, 60, I). 
