14 
NATURE STUDY NOTES 
mutual action of the protruding muscles and a 
stretched vibrating membrane which are under the 
wings. 
CYCLE—The female lays about 500 eggs in 
cracks in the bark of tree twigs. The larva from 
each egg drops to the ground and lives on the root 
juices of bushes and trees as a beetle-shaped 
creature for several years—sometimes seventeen. 
Eventually it makes its way to the surface on a 
hot day, climbs the trunk of a tree and digs its 
front claws firmly into the bark, fts outer covering 
skin splits, and the Cicada emerges—usually about 
9 p.m. Scores of empty “nymph" skeletons can be 
found on tree trunks in the summer months. 
NOTES—The Cicada loves the hot weather, and 
on hot drowsy afternoons it is heard at its loudest. 
The male Cicada is never seen feeding after it 
becomes a fully-grown insect, but the female is 
voracious, devouring a large quantity of tender 
leaves and shoots. (See number of eggs laid.) 
THE MASON WASP 
DESCRIPTION—It is not a wasp, but a large 
black fly with body shaped like that of a wasp. 
(See p. 8.) It also has a sting. Wings, two, gauzy 
(wasp has four). Nests—Position: Key-holes, 
picture frames, folds of hanging clothes, window- 
ledges, picture-hanging rail, etc. Description: 
About six oval compartments or cells, made of mud 
or clay which the wasp has carried in its mouth. 
How made: One cell at a time; the wasp places 
a large number of spiders in it, having previously 
