Note 3 — Chapter V · THE CICADA: THE LAYING AND THE HATCHING OF THE EGGS

If the stalk be smooth and even and also of a suitable length, the punctures are nearly equidistant and are not far from being in a straight line. Their number varies: it is small when the mother is disturbed in her operation and goes off to continue her laying elsewhere; it amounts to thirty or forty when the line of dots represents the total amount of eggs laid. The actual length of the row for the same number of thrusts likewise varies. A few examples will enlighten us in this respect: a row of thirty measures 28 centimetres3 on the toad-flax, 304 on the gum-succory and only 125 on the asphodel.