HOUSE AND GARDEN 
June, 1911 
43 i 
these huts, or from the ground 
proper, the period of emergence 
is a sight never to be forgotten. 
The pupae begin to emerge as 
soon as the sun has set, and like a 
mighty army they rush forth, the 
procession usually continuing un¬ 
til 9 P.M., by which time the bulk 
of them will have come forth, 
though some stragglers will con¬ 
tinue to come until midnight. As 
they rush forward they quickly as¬ 
cend the nearest hushes, weeds 
and trees, seemingly bent upon 
reaching an elevation above the 
ground, and here again we have a 
remarkable manifestation of in¬ 
stinct, for the same instinct that 
led them to burrow down in the 
earth seventeen years before, now 
impels them in the opposite direc¬ 
tion, to enjoy for a season a brief 
aerial existence, reproduce their 
species, and then die. 
We have read of certain forms of insect life that are born, 
reach maturity, mate, reproduce, and die all in a few minutes; 
but here we have an insect that spends seventeen years under¬ 
ground for a matured existence above ground for about six weeks. 
In about an hour after they have risen to some elevation, the 
skin splits down the middle of the thorax, and the forming Cicada 
comes forth. With the exception of its red eyes, the newly born 
Cicada is a creamy white, with a dash of black here and there on 
the prothorax, the coxae, and on the front of the femora, while a 
slightly orange hue adorns the base of the wings. Soon the wings 
begin to enlarge and expand, and in a little while they are beau¬ 
tifully transparent with the characteristic veins running through 
them. The time required for this transformation, from the split¬ 
ting of the shell of the pupa to the perfect development of the 
wings, will vary from twenty minutes to two hours. 
Though possessed with wings, the Cicada is slow in its move¬ 
ments, and this ac¬ 
counts for a particu¬ 
lar brood being con¬ 
fined within certain 
well defined areas. 
The adult Cicada 
seldom feeds, as food 
is not essential to its 
existence, but when it 
does, it shows a de¬ 
cided preference for 
the black birch and 
the sweet gum. This 
proves that the adult 
Cicada is really not to 
be feared, and any 
damage that is done 
to bushes and trees is 
accomplished by the 
female in her oviposit¬ 
ing the eggs. At any 
rate, the slight occa¬ 
sional feeding on the 
part of the adult Ci¬ 
cada seldom does the 
trees any permanent 
injury as, for in¬ 
stance, in the case of the San Jose 
scale louse. 
The Cicada matures and be¬ 
comes perfectly hardened during 
the first twenty-four hours of its 
aerial life, and the female does 
not lose much time in beginning 
her work of depositing her eggs 
to provide for another brood. 
Mating usually occurs within a 
week from emergence, and within 
two weeks the egg punctures will 
begin to appear on the trees and 
bushes, and often several thou¬ 
sand insects will be seen laying 
on a single tree at the same time. 
The eggs will be deposited in al¬ 
most any of the trees and bushes 
at hand, though the insects show 
a decided aversion to pines. 
Twigs and branches of the pre¬ 
vious year’s growth are invariably 
selected for deposit of eggs, and 
where the insect uses the larger limbs, the eggs, instead of being 
placed in a long series of slits, are placed in nests of twos. 
The damage from egg depositing is more likely to occur to 
oak, hickory, and young orchards, but in the case of large shade 
trees, the damage is slight and not worth bothering about. The 
old idea that the eggs of the Cicada caused limbs to break and fall 
away is due to confusing the work of the Cicada with the prun- 
ing-beetle. which cuts away the branches to provide dead wood in 
which its larvae may develop. 
The work of the female Cicada in depositing her eggs is de¬ 
cidedly interesting, and may be observed without alarming her in 
the least. She usually selects a branch of such size as will permit 
her to clasp it firmly with her legs, and enable her at the same 
time to force her ovipositor into the tissue of the wood. She 
passes from limb to limb until she has completely exhausted her 
supply of eggs, which usually number about five hundred. The 
eggs are about one-twelfth of an inch long, nearly white, and 
covered with a thin 
transparent shell; 
they remain on the 
branch for about 
seven weeks, at the 
end of which the lar¬ 
val Cicada by muscu¬ 
lar effort ruptures this 
shell and wiggles out 
upon the branch. Run¬ 
ning about with the 
quick m ovements 
characteristic of the 
ant, it soon seeks the 
edge of the branch, 
w h e 11 it deliberately 
throws itself to the 
ground, and though it 
is not injured by this, 
we have here a won¬ 
derful phenomenon of 
a helpless insect de¬ 
liberately throwing 
itself out into space 
with no apparent 
(Continued on 
page 464) 
The newly-emerged Cicada with its gauze-like wings folded 
close against its body, never having been spread 
The Cicada in flight. It reaches this stage of maturity during the first twenty-four 
hours of its aerial life, after which no time is lost in preparation for another brood 
