What cicadas are and how to identify one. Even though there are more than seventy-five species of cicadas found in North America this insect is often mistaken for the locust.
There are very few country people from the southern United States who have not experienced the noisy buzz of the cicadas or found the empty shell of this insect hanging from a tree trunk. Even though there are more than seventy-five species of cicadas found in North America this insect is often mistaken for the locust. In some cases the cicadas have even been called the seven-year or even seventeen-year locust but there are distinct differences in these two insects. To begin, the cicadas are from the Cicadidae family of insects while the locust belongs to the Tetrigidae family. While the locust are in the Orthoptera order of grasshoppers, katydids and crickets; the cicadas are in the Homoptera order of leafhoppers and aphids. Locust are also different from the cicadas in that they are a migratory, jumping insect while the cicadas are a flying insect spending much of their life cycle within a specific area. Another interesting difference in the two is how their sounds are made. While the locust makes its sound by rubbing various body parts together the sound of the cicadas is made from deep in the thorax where membrane covered hollow cavities act like drum heads and the muscles which are attached to these membranes create a vibratory effect.
It is interesting to note that only the male cicadas make this loud buzz which is used to attract the females during the mating season. Each different species produces a somewhat different type of buzz that can be detected by the discerning ear. If you are one of the unfortunate few who have never seen the cicadas, observing this insect can be an amazing experience. The best place to look is in areas that are rich in trees that are used for shade such as elms, oaks, maples or some birch and preferably in a suburban community where there is very little noise. Find a comfortable place to rest and listen until you hear a loud buzzing sound that becomes more intense as it continues, slowly tapering off before it ends. This is the sound of the cicadas. If you follow this sound to the tree and check the tree trunk you will most likely find the skins of this insect that have been shed by its nymphs. This will appear to be a grotesque kind of empty bug shell that is attached to the bark of the tree. This shell will be light brown in color and around one inch in length. Once you discover the cast-off skin search the ground beneath this area for tiny holes that are about the size of a pencil in diameter. The area around the hole will be even with the ground, showing no signs of excavated earth. This is where the cicada nymphs have dropped to the ground and burrowed in to feed on the sap of plant roots while they develop.
The mating cycle of the cicadas begins during the early summer months and is very evident from the buzzing sounds of the males. Mature nymphs burrow out of the ground, climbing onto the trees to go through the process of becoming mature cicadas. Leaving their exoskeleton behind they fly away to feed on tree sap and begin mating. Once the male has attracted a female and mating has occurred, the female will deposit her eggs in tiny splits she makes in the bark of a tree. Once the eggs hatch the nymph's fall from the tree making underground tunnels to live and feed in until they mature. In some species this may take between one and three years while other species are known to take up to seventeen years to mature. As the nymph nears maturity it will leave the tunnels of its burrow and move within inches of the surface of the ground. Here it forms a small cavity where it remains waiting for nightfall. It will then leave the safety of its tunnel and scurry to the nearest tree to complete the final stages of maturity. After the adults have mated both will die, leaving the newly emerging nymphs to carry on the species. It is interesting to note that different species can be heard at different times of the day. It appears that while some prefer mating during the day, others prefer the evening hours. In all species the chorus of these interesting insects, as it rises and falls in crescendo, presents quite a beautiful music throughout each day.
