Have you seen or heard a cicada recently?
Among other cicada facts, is the fact that cicadas are very loud insects that can be found throughout the world. Here are 7 cool facts about these insects that you may see, but more likely hear near you soon.
I can recall many times during the middle or end of summer when I’ve been outdoors and heard incredibly loud chirping sounds. Those chirping sounds can be almost too much at times. I never was sure what caused them, but now I realize they were the sounds of cicadas. After spending some time in New Zealand I have a better appreciation of these cool bugs and wanted to share some fun facts about them.
7 Cicada Facts For Nature Lovers
There are two main types of cicadas – those that emerge every year and those that are periodical, only growing into an adult form once every 13 or 17 years!
More than 1,000 species of cicada exist in the world. Most of them have an annual lifecycle, where they emerge from the ground every year, but some are periodical.
Periodical cicada live the majority of their life underground in their larval form. Remember all insects undergo metamorphosis and the larval form is their young stage before they change into an adult. Periodical cicadas live just shy of 12 or 17 years underground before emerging and living as a winged adult for about 6 weeks!
The larvae of cicadas live underground where they spend most of their time eating. They may live for years, slowly eating the juices of plants.
This cicada has just molted or crawled out of its old exoskeleton.
When the cicadas emerge from underground they do not yet have wings. They spend the first few days aboveground eating and preparing to molt. Finally, they attach themselves to a tree trunk, rock, or such and then emerge out of their old exoskeleton. Their old skin will remain attached to that spot where you can find them if you are observant.
I knew Cicadas were loud, but I never knew how loud. It turns out their calls can be heard up to a mile away! That is loud for such a little insect.
Speaking of the loud chirping. That song is made by the males in an attempt to attract females so that they can mate. They are basically making as much noise as they can to attract a female. The males make that noise by vibrating a membrane on their abdomen.