A large, typically tropical insect that spends most of its long life-cycle as a nymph burrowing underground, feeding on sap from roots; adults live in trees; males typically have well-developed sound-producing organs. (Order: Homoptera. Family: Cicadidae.)
For the restaurant in Los Angeles, see Cicada (restaurant).| iCicada | ||||||||||||||||
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Annual Cicada Tibicen linnei |
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Many. |
A cicada is any of several insects of the order Hemiptera, suborder Auchenorrhyncha, in the superfamily Cicadoidea, with small eyes wide apart on the head and usually transparent, well-veined wings.
Taxonomy
There are probably about 3,000 species of cicadas in the world although many remain undescribed.
Description
Adult cicadas, sometimes called imagines, are usually between 2 and 5 cm (1 to 2 inches) long, although there are some tropical species that reach 15 cm (6 in), e.g. Desert cicadas are also one of the few insects known to cool themselves by sweating, while many other cicadas can raise their body temperatures voluntarily to around 40°C, even when the air temperature is only 18°C.
Male cicadas (and only males) have loud noisemakers called "tymbals" on the sides of the abdominal base. See media help.
Life cycle
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Magicicadas molting |
thumb|A cicada moult |
Cicada are commonly found in south eastern Australia |
After mating, the female cuts slits into the bark of a twig and deposits her eggs there. 13 and 17 are prime numbers, so while a cicada with a 15-year life cycle could be preyed upon by a predator with a 3- or 5-year life cycle, the 13- and 17-year cycles allow them to stop the predators falling into step.
However, one phenomenon that sometimes happens to the 13/17 year cicadas is that during the time that they are buried, the area above them becomes paved over with asphalt and/or concrete as part of urban growth and development during the timespan.
Gallery
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Exit tunnels of Cicada in Japan |
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