Too closely observed it throws a jet of liquid upon the importunate enemy and flies away.

In both its forms the Cigale, in spite of its dry temperament, is a famous irrigator.
Dropsical as it is, the larva cannot contain sufficient liquid to moisten and convert into easily compressible mud the long column of earth which must be removed from the burrow.

The reservoir becomes exhausted, and the provision must be renewed.

Where, and how?
I think I can answer the question.
The few burrows uncovered along their entirety, with the meticulous care such a task demands, have revealed at the bottom, encrusted in the wall of the terminal chamber, a living root, sometimes of the thickness of a pencil, sometimes no bigger than a straw.

The visible portion of this root is only a fraction of an inch in length; the rest is hidden by the surrounding earth.