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A cicada’s life
By Kylee
What is a cicada?
The cicada is best known for the loud noise the males
make. The sound is made by the cicada flexing a part of
their body known as the tymbals, they are like drums and
they are organs found on the cicada’s abdomen.
Cicadas belong to the order Hemiptera, suborder
Homoptera and family Circadian. Leafhoppers, spittle
bugs and jumping plant lice are close relatives of the
cicada. The order Hemiptera is different from all the
other insects because the adult and the nymph a body
part called the beak and it is used to suck the fluids and
juices called xylem from the trees roots. That is how the
will eat and drink
The cicada’s family
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Aphids
True bugs
Spittle bugs
Tree hoppers
Leaf hoppers
Plant hoppers
Appearance
• A stout body, a wide, blunt head,
protruding eyes, and two pairs of
membranous wings. The front wings,
which are longer than the rear pair, extend
beyond the insect's abdomen.
Habitat
• The cicada will live mainly under trees and
logs because the nymphs have to feed off
the sap and juices that the tree provides.
Food
• Nymphs: Will eat/drink the sap and juices
from the tree.
• Adults: Don’t eat anything because it has
such a short life above ground it doesn't
eat.
Mice
Food chain
Squirrels
Rats
Birds
Toads
Lizards
Worms
Cockroaches
Raccoons
Adult cicadas don’t
eat. The nymph
sucks on the trees
roots juices and sap
Possums
Fungi
Life cycle
• Cicadas spend most of their life underground. Prior to
this spring, they've resided a foot or more below the
surface, surviving on the juices of roots and staying
nearly stationary, except to occasionally shed their
armour. They'll eventually emerge en mass on
consecutive nights when the soil temperature is
approximately 63 degrees F, but the air temperature
needs to be around 68 F for them to lay eggs. For many
predators, cicadas are tasty, apparently, cicadas adapted
to predators by arising from the earth in large numbers
so that at least some can survive the predators. Their
strategy is to overwhelm any would-be predators by
popping out of the ground by the millions (predator
satiation). This assures that a new cycle will occur.
the adult
will fly to a
male and
lay their
eggs
The cicada life cycle!
The nymph
will shied
its last skin
with wings
The late
nymph is
ready to
shied its
last cast.
The
cicada
will lay
her eggs
and die
The baby
will hatch
and fall to
the ground
The baby
nymph will
start to feed
off the trees
juices and sap
ready to start
the cycle
again
• In contrast to that of the nymph, the life of adult cicadas
is very short, lasting only a few weeks. After mating, the
adult female cicada lays its eggs. It does this by piercing
plant stems with its ovipositor (egg-laying spike at the tip
of the abdomen) and inserting the eggs into the slits it
has made. The eggs hatch into small wingless cicadas
which are known as nymphs. They fall to the ground and
burrow below the surface. Here they live on the sap from
plant roots for a period which may last several years.
They shed their skin at intervals as they grow.
• When the nymph reaches full size it digs its way to the
surface with its front legs, which are specially adapted
for digging. It generally surfaces about nightfall in late
spring or early summer. The nymph then climbs on to a
tree trunk or other object and sheds its skin for the last
time. The fully-winged adult cicada which emerges
leaves its old empty nymph-skin behind.
They are the Rip Van Winkles of the insect kingdom!
General Information
• Cicadas make a high-pitched, shrill sound which
announces there presence to other cicadas.
Only the male can make this sound to attract the
females. The noise is produced from vibrating
membranes on the underside of the first
abdominal segment. Females can damage
ornamental trees and shrubs by puncturing
limbs and twigs when preparing egg-laying sites.
Branches often die after being weakened by
cicada egg-laying.
Cicadas bring good luck?
• Some French people consider cicadas to
be good luck. Good-luck charms in the
shape of cicadas are popular items there.
In different countries cicadas are
called different names.
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Cicadas are called
semi in Japan
cigale in France
cigarra in Spain.
What are cicadas useful for?
• Cicadas serve a number of purposes.
They aid their host trees by aerating the
soil when they emerge, as well as
trimming weaker branches then they lay
their eggs. They also form a vital link in the
food chain between trees and literally
hundreds of carnivores and omnivores,
including: squirrels, birds, toads, raccoons,
possums, other insects, people, and even
fungi!
Types of cicada
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Ozzie
Yellow Monday
Green grocer
Bladder
Swamp
Double drummer
Life span
• The life span of an adult cicada is very
short and only lasting a few weeks. A
nymph on the other had can live to 7-17
years but it is very unlikely the cicada will
reach the age of 17 they will never grow
up to be older then 17.
The end!
• I hope you enjoyed my presentation about
cicadas and their way of life. I would like to
thank you for watching and Dr.Rodwell for
giving me time on the computer and miss
Hobson for telling us all about the wikis.