Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 178, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 July 1911 — The 17-Year Locust. [ARTICLE]

The 17-Year Locust.

The 17-year cicada which is wrongly called the 17-year locust, is the longest lived of any known insect, as the grub or nymph lives for over 16 years sucking the roots of the forest trees, often several feet below the ‘surface; In the last spring it finished its transformations, and usually at the last of May or the beginning of June, issues sh enormous numbers from the ground. This appearance of the 17-year brood dates aa far back as 1633. At the present time each year has its brood, or broods, each limited, as a rule, to a well defined distriot. There are 30 of such broods scattered over a large area in the Atlantic and central states. The southern limits are northern Georgia and the western limits eastern Nebraska and Kansas. v -