The Year Of The Cicada

[Lil' Hannah]

They're different from crickets.

The cicadas are part of the insect order Homoptera. These are all sucking insects, which pierce plants with their pointy mouthparts and suck out the juices. The breeding cycle begins when huge numbers of adult cicadas emerge in the spring. They mate within a week, and a few days later, the female lays her eggs. She drills into the wood of trees, and inserts up to some 400-to-600 eggs. These eggs hatch up after two to six weeks. The little babies make their way down to the ground (by crawling down, or just dropping), dig their way into the soil with their claws and begin the next phase of their life, feeding on the roots of shrubs and trees for the next 6, 12 or 16 years. The 17-year cicadas are almost fully grown into nymphs by 8 years, but they continue to feed underground until the 17th year when they come out of the soil, and attach themselves to any nearby tree or post. Their shell splits open, the adults emerge and live only for a few weeks before dying.