In the spring, cicadas hatch in tree branches. The translucent or cream-colored ant-like nymphs drop to the ground and quickly burrow themselves beneath the dirt to evade predators. They find little cracks between blades of grass and dirt and start digging because they’re extremely vulnerable to predators. Right as they hatch, spiders, beetles and ants are known to attack.
Source: Dr. Gene Kritsky, professor emeritus at Mount St Joseph University
LIFECYCLE OF A CICADA
Cicadas feed on grass roots for the next few weeks. Underground, cicadas move no more than maybe a yard in any direction. They tunnel around and feed on tree roots to survive. If they move in the wrong direction, unable to find a root, they’ll starve to death.
While annual cicadas emerge every year, just as the name suggests, periodical cicadas live underground for 13 or 17 years at a time. When soil temperatures reach 64 degrees, they emerge from the ground – typically in the early evening when they’re best protected from predators.
Once out in the world, adult cicadas ditch their nymphal skin. The skin splits, and the cicada comes out — head first, then back. Once they pull their abdomen free, they are white in color. It takes about an hour and a half for cicadas to transform to black with red eyes. When they fly off the branches, predators pounce. However, because there are millions of periodical cicadas, enough survive to mate. Males gather in choruses, and females flick their wings in response.
Within days of mating, a female will start laying about 500 eggs in tree branches. She lays between 20 and 40 eggs every half inch until she runs out of twig, in which case she goes to another branch. Once the female runs out of eggs, she dies in a day or so. Six weeks later, the eggs will hatch, signaling the start of a new lifecycle.
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