Page:Insects - Their Ways and Means of Living.djvu/221

 PERIODICAL CICADA

of cicadas in both the New World and the Old, and some of them are more familiar, at least by sound, than our periodical cicada, because not only are the males noto- riously musical, but they are to be heard every year (Fig. 2). The cicadas of southern Europe were highly es- teemed by the ancient Greeks and Romans for their song, and they were often kept in cages to furnish entertainment

FIG. II. One of the common annual cicadas whose loud song is heard every year through the later part of the summer

with their music. The Greeks called the cicada tettix, and Aesop, who always found the weak spot in every- body's character, wrote a fable about the tettix and the ant, in which the tettix, or cicada, after having sung all summer, asked a bite of food from the ant when the chill winds of coming winter found him unprovisioned. But the practical ant heartlessly replied, "Well, now you can dance." This is an unjust piece of satire because the moral is drawn to the disparagement of the cicada. Human musicians have learned their lesson, however, and sign their contracts with the box-office management in advance.

[ I83]

INSECTS