Editing Periodical cicadas (section)

{{Short description|Genus of North American cicadas}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Periodical cicada
| image = Magicicada septendecim TPopp.jpg
| image_caption = Specimen of ''[[Magicicada septendecim]]'' in the [[Bavarian State Collection of Zoology]], [[Munich]] (2015)
| image2 = A Magicicada chorus containing M. septendecim, M. cassini, and M. septendecula - pone.0000892.s004.oga
| image2_caption = A ''Magicicada'' chorus with ''[[Magicicada septendecim|M. septendecim]]'', ''[[Magicicada cassinii|M. cassini]]'', and ''[[Magicicada septendecula|M. septendecula]]''
| display_parents = 2
| taxon = Magicicada
| authority = [[William T. Davis|W. T. Davis]], 1925
| type_species = ''[[Magicicada septendecim]]''<ref>{{cite thesis |author=Maxine Shoemaker Heath |year=1978 |title=Genera of American cicadas north of Mexico |publisher=[[University of Florida]] |degree=[[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]] |doi=10.5962/bhl.title.42291|url=https://www.archive.org/download/generaofamerican00heat/generaofamerican00heat.pdf }}</ref>
| type_species_authority = ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]])
}}

The term '''periodical cicada''' is commonly used to refer to any of the seven species of the genus '''''Magicicada''''' of eastern [[North America]], the 13- and 17-year cicadas. They are called '''periodical''' because nearly all individuals in a local population are developmentally synchronized and emerge in the same year. Although they are sometimes called "[[locust]]s", this is a misnomer, as [[cicada]]s belong to the taxonomic order [[Hemiptera]] (true bugs), suborder [[Auchenorrhyncha]], while locusts are grasshoppers belonging to the order [[Orthoptera]].<ref name=magiiii>{{cite web|url=https://cicadas.uconn.edu/general_information/ |title=General Periodical Cicada Information|work=Cicadas|date=February 16, 2017|location=Storrs, Connecticut|publisher=University of Connecticut|access-date=11 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511022412/https://cicadas.uconn.edu/|archive-date=11 May 2021|url-status=live}}</ref> ''Magicicada'' belongs to the cicada tribe [[Lamotialnini]], a group of [[genera]] with representatives in Australia, Africa, and Asia, as well as the Americas.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Marshall |first1=DC |last2=Moulds |first2=M |last3=Hill |first3=KBR |last4=Price |first4=BW |last5=Wade |first5=EJ |last6=Owen |first6=CO |last7=Goemans |first7=G |last8=Marathe |first8=K |last9=Sarkar |first9=V |last10=Cooley |first10=JR |last11=Sanborn |first11=AF |last12=Kunte |first12=K |last13=Villet |first13=MH |last14=Simon |first14=C|author14-link=Chris Simon (biologist) |year=2018 |title=A molecular phylogeny of the cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) with a review of tribe and subfamily classification |journal=Zootaxa |volume=4424 |issue=1 |pages=1–64 |url=http://www.mapress.com/j/zt/article/view/zootaxa.4424.1.1 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.4424.1.1 |pmid=30313477|s2cid=52976455 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180823121204/http://www.mapress.com/j/zt/article/view/zootaxa.4424.1.1 |archive-date=23 August 2018 |url-status=live |doi-access= }}</ref>

''Magicicada'' species spend around 99.5% of their long lives underground in an immature state called a [[Nymph (biology)|nymph]]. While underground, the nymphs feed on [[xylem]] fluids from the roots of broadleaf forest trees in the eastern United States.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Lloyd, M. |author2=H.S. Dybas |name-list-style=amp |year=1966 |title=The periodical cicada problem. I. Population ecology |journal=[[Evolution (journal)|Evolution]] |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=133–149 |jstor=2406568 |doi=10.2307/2406568|pmid=28563627 }}</ref> In the spring of their 13th or 17th''&nbsp;''year, mature cicada nymphs emerge between late April and early June (depending on latitude), synchronously and in tremendous numbers.<ref name="Mania">{{cite web |title=Magicicada |url=https://www.cicadamania.com/cicadas/category/genera/magicicada/ |publisher=Cicada Mania }}</ref><ref name="Field">{{cite web |title=CICADAS IN ILLINOIS 2024 |url=https://www.fieldmuseum.org/cicadas-in-illinois |publisher=Field Museum }}</ref> The adults are active for only about four to six weeks after the unusually prolonged developmental phase.<ref name="Williams">{{cite journal |author1=Williams, K.S. |author2=C. Simon|author2-link=Chris Simon (biologist) |name-list-style=amp |year=1995 |title=The ecology, behavior, and evolution of periodical cicadas |journal=[[Annual Review of Entomology]] |volume=40 |pages=269–295 |doi=10.1146/annurev.en.40.010195.001413 |url=http://hydrodictyon.eeb.uconn.edu/projects/cicada/resources/reprints/Williams%26Simon_1995.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100729063931/http://hydrodictyon.eeb.uconn.edu/projects/cicada/resources/reprints/Williams%26Simon_1995.pdf |archive-date=29 July 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The males aggregate in chorus centers and call there to attract mates. Mated females lay eggs in the stems of woody plants. Within two months of the original emergence, the life cycle is complete and the adult cicadas die. Later in that same summer, the eggs hatch and the new nymphs burrow underground to develop for the next 13 or 17''&nbsp;''years.

Periodical emergences are also reported for the "World Cup cicada" ''[[Chremistica ribhoi]]'' (every 4''&nbsp;''years)<ref name="Hajong and Yaakop ref">{{cite journal |last1=Hajong |first1=Sudhanya Ray |last2=Yaakop |first2=Salmah |title=Chremistica ribhoi sp. n. (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) from North-East India and its mass emergence |journal=Zootaxa |date=29 August 2013 |volume=3702 |issue=5 |pages=493–500 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.3702.5.8|pmid=26146742 |doi-access=free }}</ref> in northeast India and for a cicada species from Fiji, ''[[Raiateana knowlesi]]'' (every 8''&nbsp;''years).<ref name="Simon et al. 2022">{{cite journal |last1=Simon |first1=Chris |last2=Cooley |first2=John R. |last3=Karban |first3=Richard |last4=Sota |first4=Teiji |date=7 January 2022 |title=Advances in the Evolution and Ecology of 13- and 17-Year Periodical Cicadas |url=https://par.nsf.gov/servlets/purl/10386221 |journal=Annual Review of Entomology |volume=67 |issue=1 |pages=457–482 |doi=10.1146/annurev-ento-072121-061108 |pmid=34623904 |s2cid=238529885 |doi-access=free}}</ref>