30 
THE NATURALIST AND COLLECTOR 
The only difference in the appear¬ 
ances of the two classes, besides size, 
is the coloring- of the body. The larger 
are tinted with orange-brown both on 
the back and under side, while the 
smaller have no additions to their nat¬ 
ural shading. The singing of the 
cicada is all performed by the male, 
who grates his raspy legs against 
sonorous drums beneath his wings. 
The laying of the mother’s eggs, the 
part of the season’s pastime which the 
tree lover most rues, occurs during the 
latter weeks of summer. These eggs 
are tiny white beads, almost too small 
to be seen separately with the naked 
eye. Having been nourished by the 
sap for six weeks, each egg hatches 
out, and soon the branch of the tree is 
covered with infinitesimal insects, 
which run about with great activity. 
Occasionally there comes a gentle 
zephyr which bends the cradle bough, 
and causes many of the babies to fall 
off. After this sudden departure from 
the tree they float to the ground, like 
so many small flakes of down. Then 
they burrow deep into the ground, 
until some sappy roots are found. Here 
they remain for thirteen or seventeen 
years, according to their brood, being 
nourished by the roots in question. 
During this stage they have no wings, 
and their bodies are dusky brown. 
When at last arrives the fummer when 
they are due upon the surface of the 
earth nature seems to sound a signal 
in the underground world. As the hot 
weather approaches they continue to 
dig toward the upper air, when sud¬ 
denly, on a bright June morning, day¬ 
light appears. 
The thought of life in the open air 
is at first distasteful, so they continue 
to throw the earth up before them into 
strange little towers, about four inches 
high, which resemble inverted^ icicles 
in shape. A hole is made in the side of 
each tower, and occasionally a peep is 
taken out into the strange world which 
has not before been seen for so many 
years. After becoming used to the 
light shining in this way they all appear 
to pluck up courage and decide to sud¬ 
denly march out in single file, the males 
taking the lead. Reaching the trunk 
of a tree, usually the same which nour¬ 
ished the mother’s eggs, they make 
their way toward the top, remaining 
scattered on the bark until after sun¬ 
set. Then between 6 and 9 o’clock a 
strange reincarnation takes place. 
They jump out of the old brown skins, 
which are ripped up the back and left 
clinging to the bark. The new, glossy 
raiment appears and wings are sud¬ 
denly grown. Thus the old family tree 
is used first as a cradle and nursery 
during the matching season, afterward 
as a means of nourishment, and later 
as a place of preparation for the aerial 
life. 
The cross ribs on the transparent 
wings of the cicada form the letter 
“W.” The old-time farmer who does 
not understand about the periodical 
advents of the insect believes that this 
forewarns war. It was in 1861, the 
first year of the late war, that the pres¬ 
ent seventeen-year brood made a former 
appearance in the West. Some say 
that the superstition originated at that 
time. However, as a noted entomol¬ 
ogist has pointed out, “warm weather” 
is the best interpretation. The Arabs 
find on the wings of the Oriental locust 
a message stating that the deity has 
sent the insects from heaven as 
avenging armies to'destroy the crops 
of the wicked. 
Professor Howard says that the 
cicada’s depredations are much exag¬ 
gerated. The matured female causes 
all of the injury to trees when she 
