. The Australian Museum magazine. Natural history. THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 209 War in the Garden, By Allan R. The Yellow and Black Sand Wasp (Exeirus lateritus) which every year exacts heavy toll from the cicada world. [Photo.—.4. li. McCiilloch. WHEN the sun is shining his hardest and the eicadas, or screech-bugs, as our American cousins appro- priately call them, are screeching their loudest, the time is ripe for unlimited tragedies. In an old Parramatta gar- den, where the soil is loose and sandy, and oak trees form a thick leafy canopy overhead, the cicada finds everj^
. The Australian Museum magazine. Natural history. THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 209 War in the Garden, By Allan R. The Yellow and Black Sand Wasp (Exeirus lateritus) which every year exacts heavy toll from the cicada world. [Photo.—.4. li. McCiilloch. WHEN the sun is shining his hardest and the eicadas, or screech-bugs, as our American cousins appro- priately call them, are screeching their loudest, the time is ripe for unlimited tragedies. In an old Parramatta gar- den, where the soil is loose and sandy, and oak trees form a thick leafy canopy overhead, the cicada finds everj^thing to his taste. In his larval life, when tunnelling his way through the ground, he finds no difficulty in moving the soil with his powerful front legs in search of food. And later, when he has crept out of his brown, hard skin, and emerged a slim, shiny creature, he has merely to spread his gauzy wings and fly into the nearest tree-top to trill away the few remaining days of his life. So well does it suit him and his kind, and so much noise does he make, that he attracts numerous small boys, who delight to catch and shake him violently in a hot dirty hand, causing him to rattle loudly in protest. Boys and birds and what would seem to be still more dangerous enemies, wasps, harry the poor cicada from the cradle to the grave. In a corner of the garden, a number of Digger-wasps (Exeirus lateritus) have established themselves, appearing year after year to wage war upon the host of cicadas living in the trees above them. They burrow deep tunnels in a small space several yards square, and heap up small hillocks of it at the entrance to their subterranean dwellings. Each burrow is about the size of a mouse- hole and the sand excavated from it would fill an ordinary cup four or five times. Each year, about the middle of November, when the sun has warmed u]i the earth, they may be seen indus- triously shovelling sand out of the tunnel mouth and scattering it far behind them. Stand
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectnaturalhistory, booky
