Editing Cicada (section)

==Biology==

===Description===
<!--[[File:HeadCicadidae.jpg|thumb|Head of ''[[Magicicada septendecim]]'' showing red eyes and ocelli]]-->
[[File:Gratopsaltria Nigrofuscata Young.jpg|upright|thumb|A Japanese Min-min-zemi, called with [[:en:Onomatopoeia|onomatopoeia]] (''[[Hyalessa maculaticollis]]'', [[annual cicada]])]]
[[File:Platypleura kaempferi (NiiNii cicada).png|200px|thumb|A Japanese Nii-nii-zemi ([[:ja:ニイニイゼミ|ニイニイゼミ]]), called with [[:en:Onomatopoeia|onomatopoeia]] (''Platypleura kaempferi'', [[annual cicada]]）]]

Cicadas are large insects made conspicuous by the courtship calls of the males. They are characterized by having three joints in their [[Arthropod leg#Tarsus|tarsi]], and having small [[Antenna (biology)|antennae]] with conical bases and three to six segments, including a [[seta]] at the tip.<ref name=Cuvier/> The [[Auchenorrhyncha]] differ from other hemipterans by having a [[Rostrum (anatomy)|rostrum]] that arises from the posteroventral part of the head, complex sound-producing membranes, and a mechanism for linking the wings that involves a down-rolled edging on the rear of the fore wing and an upwardly protruding flap on the hind wing.<ref name=Resh/>

Cicadas are feeble jumpers, and nymphs lack the ability to jump altogether. Another defining characteristic is the adaptations of the fore limbs of nymphs for underground life. The relict family Tettigarctidae differs from the Cicadidae in having the [[prothorax]] extending as far as the [[Scutellum (insect anatomy)|scutellum]], and by lacking the tympanal apparatus.<ref name=Resh/>
[[File:20190828 semi uka.jpg|thumb|A black cicada just after [[Ecdysis|molting]] in the garden of a private house (Midwest Saitama Prefecture, Japan)]]

The adult insect, known as an [[imago]], is {{convert|2|to|5|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} in total length in most species. The largest, the [[empress cicada]] (''Megapomponia imperatoria''), has a head-body length around {{convert|7|cm|in|abbr=on}}, and its wingspan is {{convert|18|-|20|cm|in|0|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Burton2002"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Flindt |first1=Rainer |title=Amazing Numbers in Biology |date=2006 |publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg |isbn=978-3-540-30146-2 |page=10 }}</ref> Cicadas have prominent compound eyes set wide apart on the sides of the head. The short antennae protrude between the eyes or in front of them. They also have three small [[simple eyes in arthropods|ocelli]] located on the top of the head in a triangle between the two large eyes; this distinguishes cicadas from other members of the Hemiptera. The mouthparts form a long, sharp [[Rostrum (anatomy)|rostrum]] that they insert into the plant to feed.<ref name=Capinera/> The [[Clypeus (arthropod anatomy)|postclypeus]] is a large, nose-like structure that lies between the eyes and makes up most of the front of the head; it contains the pumping musculature.<ref>{{cite book |last=Moulds |first=Maxwell Sydney |title=Australian Cicadas |publisher=New South Wales University Press |year=1990 |page=10 |isbn=978-0-86840-139-3}}</ref>

The thorax has three segments and houses the powerful wing muscles. They have two pairs of membranous wings that may be [[hyaline]], cloudy, or pigmented. The wing venation varies between species and may help in identification. The middle thoracic segment has an [[Operculum (animal)|operculum]] on the underside, which may extend posteriorly and obscure parts of the abdomen. The abdomen is segmented, with the hindermost segments housing the reproductive organs, and terminates in females with a large, saw-edged [[ovipositor]]. In males, the abdomen is largely hollow and used as a [[Resonating device|resonating chamber]].<ref name=Capinera/>

The surface of the fore wing is [[Superhydrophobic coating|superhydrophobic]]; it is covered with minute, waxy cones, blunt spikes that create a water-repellent film. Rain rolls across the surface, removing dirt in the process. In the absence of rain, [[dew]] condenses on the wings. When the droplets coalesce, the cicada leaps several millimetres into the air, which also serves to clean the wings.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wisdom |first1=Katrina M. |last2=Watson |first2=Jolanta A. |last3=Qu |first3=Xiaopeng |last4=Liu |first4=Fangjie |last5=Watson |first5=Gregory S. |last6=Chen |first6=Chuan-Hua |title=Self-cleaning of superhydrophobic surfaces by self-propelled jumping condensate |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=26 April 2013 |volume=110 |issue=20 |pages=7992–7997 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1210770110 |pmid=23630277 |pmc=3657783 |bibcode=2013PNAS..110.7992W |doi-access=free}}
*{{cite magazine |author=Charles Q. Choi |date=April 29, 2013 |title=Cicada Wings Are Self-Cleaning |magazine=Scientific American |url=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/cicada-wings-self-cleaning/}}</ref> [[Bacteria]] landing on the wing surface are not repelled; rather, their membranes are torn apart by the nanoscale-sized spikes, making the wing surface the first-known [[biomaterial]] that can kill bacteria.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pogodin |first1=Sergey |last2=Hasan |first2=Jafar |last3=Baulin |first3=Vladimir A. |last4=Webb |first4=Hayden K. |last5=Truong |first5=Vi Khanh |last6=Phong Nguyen |first6=The Hong |last7=Boshkovikj |first7=Veselin |last8=Fluke |first8=Christopher J. |last9=Watson |first9=Gregory S. |last10=Watson |first10=Jolanta A. |last11=Crawford |first11=Russell J. |last12=Ivanova |first12=Elena P. |title=Biophysical Model of Bacterial Cell Interactions with Nanopatterned Cicada Wing Surfaces |journal=Biophysical Journal |date=February 2013 |volume=104 |issue=4 |pages=835–840 |doi=10.1016/j.bpj.2012.12.046 |pmid=23442962 |pmc=3576530 |bibcode=2013BpJ...104..835P}}
*{{cite web |author=Bob Yirka |date=March 6, 2013 |title=Researchers find cicada wing structure able to kill bacteria on contact (w/ video) |website=Phys.org |url=http://phys.org/news/2013-03-cicada-wing-bacteria-contact-video.html}}</ref>

===Temperature regulation===

Desert cicadas such as ''[[Diceroprocta apache]]'' are unusual among insects in controlling their temperature by [[evaporative cooling]], analogous to [[sweating]] in mammals. When their temperature rises above about {{convert|39|C|F|0}}, they suck excess sap from the food plants and extrude the excess water through pores in the [[tergum]] at a modest cost in energy. Such a rapid loss of water can be sustained only by feeding on water-rich [[xylem sap]]. At lower temperatures, feeding cicadas would normally need to excrete the excess water. By evaporative cooling, desert cicadas can reduce their bodily temperature by some 5&nbsp;°C.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hadley |first1=Neil F. |last2=Quinlan |first2=Michael C. |last3=Kennedy |first3=Michael L. |date=1991 |title=Evaporative cooling in the desert cicada: thermal efficiency and water/metabolic costs |journal=[[Journal of Experimental Biology]] |volume=159 |issue=1 |pages=269–283 |doi=10.1242/jeb.159.1.269 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Toolson |first=Eric C. |title=Water Profligacy as an Adaptation to Hot Deserts: Water Loss Rates and Evaporative Cooling in the Sonoran Desert Cicada, Diceroprocta apache |journal=Physiological Zoology |volume=60 |issue=4 |year=1987 |pages=379–385 |doi=10.1086/physzool.60.4.30157899 |s2cid=87904484 }}</ref> Some non-desert cicada species such as ''Magicicada tredecem'' also cool themselves evaporatively, but less dramatically.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Toolson |first1=Eric C. |last2=Toolson |first2=Elizabeth K. |title=Evaporative cooling and endothermy in the 13-year periodical cicada, Magicicada tredecem |journal=Journal of Comparative Physiology B |year=1991 |volume=161 |issue=1 |pages=109–115 |doi=10.1007/BF00258754 |s2cid=23530728 }}</ref> Conversely, many other cicadas can voluntarily raise their body temperatures as much as 22 °C (40 °F) above ambient temperature.<ref name="Sanborn et al 2003"/>

===Song===

[[File:EB1911 cicada tymbal structure.png|thumb|upright=1.1|Cicada sound-producing organs and musculature:<br />a, Body of male from below, showing cover-plates;<br />b, From above, showing drumlike [[tymbal]]s;<br />c, Section, [[muscle]]s that vibrate tymbals;<br />d, A tymbal at rest;<br />e, Thrown into vibration, as when singing]]
The "singing" of male cicadas is produced principally and in the majority of species using a special structure called a [[tymbal]], a pair of which lies below each side of the [[Anatomical terms of location|anterior]] [[abdomen|abdominal]] region. The structure is buckled by muscular action and, being made of [[resilin]], unbuckles rapidly on muscle relaxation, producing their characteristic sounds. Some cicadas, however, have mechanisms for [[stridulation]], sometimes in addition to the tymbals. Here, the wings are rubbed over a series of midthoracic ridges. In the Chinese species ''[[Subpsaltria yangi]]'', both males and females can stridulate.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Luo |first1=Changqing |last2=Wei |first2=Cong |title=Intraspecific sexual mimicry for finding females in a cicada: males produce 'female sounds' to gain reproductive benefit |journal=Animal Behaviour |date=April 2015 |volume=102 |pages=69–76 |doi=10.1016/j.anbehav.2015.01.013 |s2cid=53170339 }}</ref> The sounds may further be modulated by membranous coverings and by resonant cavities.<ref name=Cuvier>{{cite book|author1=Cuvier, Georges |author2= Blyth, Edward |author3= Mudie, Robert |author4=Johnston, George| author5= Westwood, John Obadiah |author6= Carpenter, William Benjamin |title=The Animal Kingdom: Arranged After Its Organization, Forming a Natural History of Animals, and an Introduction to Comparative Anatomy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fPvRAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA567 |year=1851 |publisher=W. S. Orr and Company |pages=567–570}}</ref>

The male abdomen in some species is largely hollow, and acts as a [[sound box]]. By rapidly vibrating these membranes, a cicada combines the clicks into apparently continuous notes, and enlarged chambers derived from the [[Invertebrate trachea|tracheae]] serve as [[Resonating device|resonating chamber]]s with which it amplifies the sound. The cicada also modulates the song by positioning its abdomen toward or away from the [[Substrate (biology)|substrate]] (their perch). Partly by the pattern in which it combines the clicks, each species produces its own distinctive mating songs and acoustic signals, ensuring that the song attracts only appropriate mates.<ref name="Milne" /> The [[Tettigarctidae|tettigarctid (or hairy) cicadas]] have rudimentary tymbals in both sexes and do not produce airborne sounds, rather, both males and females produce vibrations that are transmitted through the tree they perch upon. They are considered as representing the [[Primitive (phylogenetics)|original state]] from which other cicada communication has evolved.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Claridge |first1=Michael F. |last2=Morgan |first2=John C. |last3=Moulds |first3=Maxwell S. |title=Substrate-transmitted acoustic signals of the primitive cicada, Tettigarcta crinita Distant (Hemiptera Cicadoidea, Tettigarctidae) |journal=Journal of Natural History |date=December 1999 |volume=33 |issue=12 |pages=1831–1834 |doi=10.1080/002229399299752 |bibcode=1999JNatH..33.1831C }}</ref>

{{Listen |filename=New_Zealand_cicada_song.ogg | title=''Amphipsalta zelandica'' cicada song | description=Song, New Zealand, 2006
| filename2=Tanna_japonensis_v01.ogg |title2=Cicada chorus in Japan | description2=Chorus of ''[[Tanna japonensis]]'', Japan, 2011
| filename3=Cicadas_in_Greece.ogg |title3=Cicadas in Greece | description3=Chorus, [[Ithaca (island)|Ithaca]], 2008
| filename4=Cicada_calling_in_Irving,_TX_in_June_of_2012.ogg |title4=A single ''Neotibicen superbus'' cicada calling | description4 =Song, Texas, 2012}}
<!--ok, that's quite enough sound clips for one article, especially if we don't even know which species is involved-->

Average temperature of the natural habitat for the South American species ''[[Fidicinini|Fidicina rana]]'' is about {{convert |29|C|F|0}}. During sound production, the temperature of the tymbal muscles was found to be significantly higher.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Aidley | first1 =D. J. | last2=White | first2=D.C.S. |date=1969 | title=Mechanical properties of glycerinated fibres from the tymbal muscles of a Brazilian cicada |journal=[[Journal of Physiology]] |volume=205 |issue=1 |pages=179–192 |pmid=5347716 |pmc=1348633 | doi=10.1113/jphysiol.1969.sp008959}}</ref> Many cicadas sing most actively during the hottest hours of a summer day; roughly a [[Circadian rhythm|24-hour cycle]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Turpin |first1=Tom |title=Sound of Insect Music Ushers in Fall Season |url=https://www.agriculture.purdue.edu/agcomm/newscolumns/archives/OSL/2008/September/080911OSL.html |publisher=Purdue University |access-date=27 August 2015 |date=11 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150920165622/https://www.agriculture.purdue.edu/agcomm/newscolumns/archives/OSL/2008/September/080911OSL.html |archive-date=20 September 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Most cicadas are diurnal in their calling and [[Poikilotherm|depend on external heat]] to warm them up, while a few are capable of raising their temperatures using muscle action and some species are known to call at dusk.<ref name="Sanborn et al 2003">{{cite journal |last1=Sanborn |first1=Allen F. |last2=Villet |first2=Martin H. |last3=Phillips |first3=Polly K. |title=Hot-blooded singers: endothermy facilitates crepuscular signaling in African platypleurine cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Platypleura spp.) |journal=Naturwissenschaften |date=July 2003 |volume=90 |issue=7 |pages=305–308 |doi=10.1007/s00114-003-0428-1 |pmid=12883772 |s2cid=9090814 |bibcode=2003NW.....90..305S }}</ref> ''[[Kanakia (cicada)|Kanakia gigas]]'' and ''[[Froggattoides typicus]]'' are among the few that are known to be truly nocturnal and there may be other nocturnal species living in tropical forests.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Boulard |first1=Michel |chapter=Acoustic Signals, Diversity and Behaviour of Cicadas (Cicadidae, Hemiptera) |pages=349–368 |doi=10.1201/9781420039337-31 |title=Insect Sounds and Communication |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-429-12200-2 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ewart |first1=A. |last2=Popple |first2=L. W. |title=Songs and calling behaviour of 'Froggattoides typicus' Distant (Hemiptera: Cicadoidea: Cicadidae), a nocturnally singing cicada |journal=The Australian Entomologist |volume=34 |issue=4 |date=December 2007 |pages=127–139 |url=https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/INFORMIT.070734889311858 }}</ref>

Cicadas call from varying heights on trees. Where multiple species occur, the species may use different heights and timing of calling.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sueur |first1=J. |last2=Aubin |first2=T. |title=Is microhabitat segregation between two cicada species (''Tibicina haematodes'' and ''Cicada orni'') due to calling song propagation constraints? |journal=Naturwissenschaften |date=2003-07-01 |volume=90 |issue=7 |pages=322–326 |doi=10.1007/s00114-003-0432-5 |pmid=12883776 |bibcode=2003NW.....90..322S |s2cid=25048233 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sueur |first1=Jérôme |title=Cicada acoustic communication: potential sound partitioning in a multispecies community from Mexico (Hemiptera: Cicadomorpha: Cicadidae) |journal=Biological Journal of the Linnean Society |date=2002-03-01 |volume=75 |issue=3 |pages=379–394 |doi=10.1046/j.1095-8312.2002.00030.x |doi-access=free }}</ref> While the vast majority of cicadas call from above the ground, two Californian species, ''[[Okanagana|Okanagana pallidula]]'' and ''[[Okanagana vanduzeei|O. vanduzeei]]'' are known to call from hollows made at the base of the tree below the ground level. The adaptive significance is unclear, as the calls are not amplified or modified by the [[burrow]] structure, but this may avoid [[predation]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sanborn |first1=Allen |last2=Phillips |first2=Polly |title=No acoustic benefit to subterranean calling in the cicada ''Okanagana pallidula'' Davis (Homoptera: Tibicinidae) |journal=Great Basin Naturalist |date=1995-10-31 |volume=55 |issue=4 |url=https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/gbn/vol55/iss4/12/ }}</ref>

Although only males produce the cicadas' distinctive sounds, both sexes have membranous structures called [[tympanal organ|tympana]] (singular – tympanum) by which they detect sounds, the equivalent of having ears. Males disable their own tympana while calling, thereby preventing damage to their hearing;<ref name="5050.co.za">{{cite web |work=50/50 |title=Cicada noise |date=2 June 2002 |location=[[New Zealand|NZ]] |url=http://www.5050.co.za/inserts.asp?ID=3234 |access-date=3 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004162419/http://www.5050.co.za/inserts.asp?ID=3234 |archive-date=4 October 2006 }}</ref> a necessity partly because some cicadas produce sounds up to 120&nbsp;[[Sound#Sound Pressure Level|dB (SPL)]]<ref name="5050.co.za" /> which is among the loudest of all insect-produced sounds.<ref>{{cite web | last=Craig | first=Owen | publisher=[[ABC Science]] | place=[[Australia]] | date=2001-02-17 | title=Summer of singing cicadas | url=http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2001/02/17/2822486.htm | access-date=23 December 2006}}</ref> The song is loud enough to cause permanent [[hearing loss]] in humans should the cicada be at "close range". In contrast, some small species have songs so high in pitch that they are inaudible to humans.<ref name="insecteducation">{{Cite web|work=Insect education |date=2008-09-09 |title=Arthropoda |url=http://www.insecteducation.com/tag/arthropoda |access-date=2009-09-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713040007/http://www.insecteducation.com/tag/arthropoda |archive-date=13 July 2011 }}</ref>

For the human ear, telling precisely where a cicada song originates is often difficult. The pitch is nearly constant, the sound is continuous to the human ear, and cicadas sing in scattered groups. In addition to the mating song, many species have a distinct distress call, usually a broken and erratic sound emitted by the insect when seized or panicked. Some species also have courtship songs, generally quieter, and produced after a female has been drawn to the calling song. Males also produce encounter calls, whether in courtship or to maintain personal space within choruses.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Villet |first1=Martin H. |last2=Sanborn |first2=Allen F. |last3=Phillips |first3=Polly K. |title=Endothermy and chorusing behaviour in the African platypleurine cicada Pycna semiclara (Germar, 1834) (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) |journal=Canadian Journal of Zoology |date=2003 |volume=81 |issue=8 |pages=1437–1444 |doi=10.1139/z03-119 |bibcode=2003CaJZ...81.1437V }}</ref>

The songs of cicadas are considered by entomologists to be unique to a given species, and a number of resources exist to collect and analyse cicada sounds.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Baker |first1=E. |last2=Price |first2=B. W. |last3 =Rycroft | first3=S. D. | last4= Villet |first4 = M. H. |date=2015 |title=Global Cicada Sound Collection I: Recordings from South Africa and Malawi by B. W. Price & M. H. Villet and harvesting of BioAcoustica data by GBIF |journal=Biodiversity Data Journal |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=e5792 |doi=10.3897/BDJ.3.e5792|pmid=26379465 |pmc=4568402 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

===Life cycle===

In some species of cicadas, the males remain in one location and call to attract females. Sometimes, several males aggregate and call in chorus. In other species, the males move from place to place, usually with quieter calls, while searching for females. The Tettigarctidae differ from other cicadas in producing vibrations in the [[Substrate (biology)|substrate]] rather than audible sounds.<ref name=Resh/> After mating, the female cuts slits into the bark of a twig where she deposits her eggs.<ref name=Resh/> Both male and female cicadas die within a few weeks after emerging from the soil. Although they have mouthparts and are able to consume some plant liquids for nutrition, the amount eaten is very small and the insects have a natural adult lifespan of less than two months.

When the eggs hatch, the newly hatched [[Nymph (biology)|nymphs]] drop to the ground and burrow. Cicadas live underground as nymphs for most of their lives at depths down to about {{convert|2.5|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}. Nymphs have strong front legs for digging and excavating chambers near to roots, where they feed on [[xylem]] sap. In the process, their bodies and interior of the burrow become coated in anal fluids. In wet habitats, larger species construct mud towers above ground to aerate their burrows. In the final nymphal [[instar]], they construct an exit tunnel to the surface and emerge.<ref name=Resh/> They then [[ecdysis|molt]] (shed their skins) on a nearby plant for the last time, and emerge as adults. The [[exuviae]] or abandoned exoskeletons remain, still clinging to the bark of the tree.<ref name=Grimaldi>{{cite book|author1=Grimaldi, David |author2=Engel, Michael S. |title=Evolution of the Insects |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=odQmAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA308 |year=2005 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-26877-7 |page=308}}</ref>

Most cicadas go through a life cycle that lasts 2–5 years. Some species have much longer life cycles, such as the North American genus, ''[[Magicicada]]'', which has a number of distinct "broods" that go through either a 17-year (Brood XIII), or in some parts of the region, a 13-year (Brood XIX) life cycle<ref name=milman>{{cite news| last=Milman | first=Oliver | title=US braces for cicadas by the trillion as two broods of periodic insects coincide | newspaper=The Observer| date=7 April 2024 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/07/cicada-geddon-brood-season-midwest-eastern}}</ref> The long life cycles may have developed as a response to [[predation|predators]], such as the [[sphecius|cicada killer wasp]] and [[mantis|praying mantis]].<ref>{{Cite book | last=Haga | first=Enoch | chapter=6. Eratosthenes goes bugs! | at=pp. 71–80, fig. 8, table 9 | title=Exploring Prime Numbers on Your PC and the Internet | publisher=Enoch Haga | year=1994–2007 | lccn=2007900755 | isbn=978-1-885794-24-6}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia | last=Haga | first=Enoch | title=Sequence A161664, Safe periods for the emergence of cicada species on prime number cycles | url=https://oeis.org/A161664 | editor-first=NJA | editor-last=Sloane | encyclopedia=The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences | year=2009}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:7petalJade.jpg | format=[[JPEG]] | type=image | title=Scanjet image of 7-petal flower from Jade plant approximately 25 years or more years old in Livermore, California |publisher= Wikimedia | access-date=20 September 2009 }}</ref> A specialist predator with a shorter life cycle of at least two years could not reliably prey upon the cicadas;<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dawkins |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Dawkins |title=The Blind Watchmaker |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |date=1986 |page=[https://archive.org/details/blindwatchmaker0000dawk/page/100 100] |isbn=978-0-393-31570-7 |title-link=The Blind Watchmaker }}</ref> for example, a 17-year cicada with a predator with a five-year life cycle will only be threatened by a peak predator population every 85 (5 × 17) years, while a non-prime cycle such as 15 would be endangered at every year of emergence.<ref name=dijusto>{{citation |last=Di Justo | first=Patrick | title=The Cicada's Love Affair With Prime Numbers | magazine=The New Yorker | date=13 May 2013 | url=https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-cicadas-love-affair-with-prime-numbers}}</ref> An alternate hypothesis is that these long life cycles evolved during the ice ages so as to overcome cold spells, and that as species co-emerged and hybridized, they left distinct species that did not hybridize having periods matching [[prime number]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Yoshimura, J. |year=1997|title= The Evolutionary Origins of Periodical Cicadas During Ice Ages|journal= The American Naturalist|volume= 149|issue=1|pages= 112–124|doi=10.1086/285981|bibcode=1997ANat..149..112Y |s2cid=84915706}}</ref> The 13- and 17-year cicadas only emerge in the midwestern and eastern US in the same year every 221 years (13 × 17), with 2024 being the first such year since 1803.<ref name=milman/>

<gallery>

File:Emerging cicada.jpg|A teneral cicada that has just emerged and is waiting to dry before flying away
File:Cicada Close-Up.jpg|Newly emerged adult cicada held on human fingers
File:Cicada skin.jpg|Cicada exuviae after the adult cicada has left
File:Cicada_exuviae_clinging_to_a_leaf.jpg|alt=An empty cicada skin captured in June 2024 in Rab Croatia|Cicada exuviae clinging to a leaf
File:Cicada on an eastern red cedar tree in Oklahoma.jpg|Cicada clinging to the bark of an [[eastern red cedar]] tree in [[Oklahoma]]
</gallery>

===Diet===
Cicada nymphs drink sap from the xylem of various species of trees, including [[oak]], [[cypress]], [[willow]], [[Fraxinus|ash]], and [[maple]]. While common folklore indicates that adults do not eat, they actually do drink plant sap using their sucking mouthparts.<ref>Elliott, Lang, and Wil Hershberger. (2007). ''The Songs of Insects''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. pp. 184–185. {{ISBN|0618663975}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://insects.about.com/od/truebugs/p/percicadas.htm |title=Periodical Cicadas - Genus Magicicada |access-date=4 June 2011 |archive-date=21 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110921220226/http://insects.about.com/od/truebugs/p/percicadas.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> 

Cicadas excrete fluid in streams of droplets due to their high volume consumption of xylem sap.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cicadamania.com/cicadas/do-cicadas-pee/ | title=Do cicadas pee? | date=28 June 2015 }}</ref> The jets of urine that cicadas produce have a velocity of up to 3 meters per second, making them the fastest among all assessed animals, including mammals like elephants and horses.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/11/science/cicadas-pee-stream.html |title=When Cicadas Emerge, Things Might Get a Little Wet |work=The New York Times |date=11 March 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |author=Challita, E. J., & Bhamla, M. S. |date=2024 |title=Unifying fluidic excretion across life from cicadas to elephants |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=121 |issue=13 |pages=e2317878121 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2317878121|pmid=38466877 |pmc=10990113 |bibcode=2024PNAS..12117878C }}</ref>

===Locomotion===
{{further|Animal locomotion|Jumping}}

Cicadas, unlike other Auchenorrhyncha, are not adapted for jumping (saltation).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Burrows |first1=M. |title=Jumping mechanisms of treehopper insects (Hemiptera, Auchenorrhyncha, Membracidae) |journal=Journal of Experimental Biology |date=March 2013 |volume= 216|issue=5|pages=788–799 |doi=10.1242/jeb.078741 |pmid=23155084|doi-access=free }}</ref> They have the usual insect modes of [[animal locomotion|locomotion]], walking and flight, but they do not walk or run well, and take to the wing to travel distances greater than a few centimetres.<ref name=Resh/>