Page:Insects - Their Ways and Means of Living.djvu/243

 PERIODICAL CICADA

the transformation; we see only the throwing off of the shell that concealed it, as the circus performer strips off the costume of the clown and appears already dressed in that of the accomplished acrobat. T ADVLTS The adult cicada bears the stamp of individuality. In form he does hOt closely resemble any of out everyday insects, and he has a personality all his own; he impresses us as a "distinguished foreigner in out midst." The body of the periodical cicada is thick-set (Fig. 119), the face is bulging, the forehead is wide, with the eyes set out promi- nently on each side; from the under side of the head the short, strong beak projects downward and backward be- tween the bases of the front legs. The colors are dis- tinctive but hOt striking. The back is plain black (Plate 7) ; the eyes are bright red; the wings are shiny transparent amber with strongly marked orange-red veins; the legs and beak are reddish, and there are bands of the same color on the rings of the abdomen. Ech front wing is branded near the tip with a conspicuous dark-brown W. With both the seventeen-year race and the thirteen- year race of the periodical cicada there is associated a small cicada, which, however, differs so little except in size from the others (Fig. 119) that entomologists gener- ally regard it as a mere variety of the larger form, the latter always including by far the greater number of individuals in any brood. The male cicada has a pair of large drumheads beneath the bases of the wings on the front end of the abdomen (Fig. oEo, Tre). These are the instruments by which he produces his music, and we will give them more atten- tion presently. The female cicada has no drums nor other sound-making organs; she is voiceless, and must keep silence no matter how much her noisy mate may disturb her peace. The chier distinction of the female is her ovipositor, a long, swordlike instrument used for inserting

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