CICADA, in natural history, a genus of insects of the order Hemiptera. Generic character : snout inflected ; antennas seta ceous; the four wings membranaceous and deflected ; legs in most of the spe cies formed for leaping. These insects live on various plants ; the larva is apte rous ; the pupa furnished with the mere rudiments of wings ; both of them six footed and active, the male of the per fect insect chirps like the cricket. There are some hundred species noticed and described by different authors, and enu merated with their characters by Gmelin. There are three divisions. A. antenna subulate, inserted in the front. B. legs not formed for leaping. C. antenna filiform, inserted under the eyes ; this class is sub divided into, 1. a. lip abbreviated, trun cate, emarginate ; and, 2. b. lip rounded, setaceous at the tip. The most common of the European species, is C. flebeia, which has been long confounded with the grasshopper. It is a native of the warmer parts of Europe, appearing in the hotter months, and continuing its chirping during the greater part of the day, generally sitting among the leaves of trees. The insects proceed from eggs deposited by the parent in and about the roots of trees, near the ground. They hatch into larva, in which state they continue nearly two years,casttheir skins, and produce the complete insect. The male cicada alone makes the chirping,the female being entirely route ; the noise of the former proceeds from a pair of con cave membranes, seated on each side the first joint of the abdomen : the large con cavities of the abdomen, immediately under the two broad lamella in the male insect, are also faced by a thin, pellucid, irridescent membrane, serving to increase and to reverberate the sound, and a strong muscular apparatus is exerted, for the purpose of moving the necessary organs.
Among the smaller European species is C. spumaria, or cuckow-spit cicada, so named from the circumstance of its larva being found constantly enveloped in a mass of white froth, adhering to the leaves and stem: of vegetables. This froth, which is popularly known by the name of cuckow-spittle, is found in the summer, and is the production of the in cluded larva, which, from the time of its hatching from the egg deposited by the parent insect, continues, at intervals, to suck the juices of the stem on which it resides, and to discharge them from the vent in the form of very minute bubbles ; and by Ventinuing the operation, corn pletely covers itself with a large mass of froth, which is sometimes so • over charged with moisture, that a drop may be seen hanging from its under sur face.