The life of ... a cicada

Hi everyone,
We're back to talk about another animal.

Cicadas (Cicadoidea) are invertebrates and are 1.9cm to 5.7cm in size. There are 3 000 species that can be divided into annual cicadas and periodical cicadas. Annual cicadas can be seen annually and are found worldwide whereas periodical cicadas only leave the ground every decade or two and are only found in North America with hotspots in the eastern and central areas of the United States. Most annual cicadas have a lifespan of about two to five years and periodical cicadas can live up to the age of 17.

Female cicadas lay around 400 eggs split up over several places. They normally lay their eggs on twigs, branches or other vegetation. The eggs hatch after about six to ten weeks, now known as nymphs, and dig their way into the soil.

The nymphs feed on the liquids found in plant roots. They fully develop underground, before molting their shells and coming to the surface, now fully developed adults. They then mate and lay eggs. Periodical cicada adults die about four to six weeks after leaving the ground.

Periodical cicadas do emerge almost every single year though, because they are split into 15 staggered brood cycles, each one lasting about 13-17 years. A brood emerges once the ground temperature in the top 30cm of soil has reached 18 degrees Celsius, normally in late April and early May. Up to 1.5 million individuals are possible in one single acre. This may sound dangerous, however cicada clouds are not as destructive as locust clouds, because they drink tree sap rather than stripping vegetation. Although younger trees can suffer, the vast majority of mature trees recieve no permanent or serious damage from these plagues.

Cicada clouds are known to be very loud, reaching up to 100 decibels. Clicking and buzzing sounds are species specific and are used as alarm signals and mating calls.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Happy Easter if you're celebrating it!

Your Green World Blog Team💚

Images:

This image, owned by lalo_pangue (on flickr.com) is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

This image, owned by Eric Parker (on flickr.com) is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.

Sources:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/facts/cicadas/

https://www.livescience.com/57814-cicada-facts.html

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