CicadasOrder Homoptera
 
Physical Characters
Adult cicadas are stocky insects with prominent eyes and semi-transparent wings which fold against the body. They are 1 - 1 5/8 inches in length. Brown-black or greenish. Sometimes yellow on thorax and mouthparts. The wings are a brownish green.
Habitat
Cicadas are mainly warm-temperate to tropical in habitat. There are 202 species in Australia compared with about 100 species in the Palaearctic and only one species in the UK. The British species is Melampsalta montana which is widespread outside of the UK and occurs up to 61° north. It seems to prefer pines, though old larval skins exuviae have been found on grass stems and occasionally Bracken Pteridium aquilonia.
Food
Adults feed on Xylem the same as the nymphs and this means that like other sap feeding insects they have excess fluids, mostly water as xylem fluid is low in sugars, to get rid of while feeding, this allows Diceroprocta apache a desert species found in Arizona USA to use evaporation as a cooling method, allowing it better survive the high temperatures experienced in this habitat. Nymphs feeds on juices from roots.
Life Cycle and Reproduction
Gradual metamorphosis. Cicadas, also known as 'locusts', appear as adults in May and June, and crawl up into host trees to mate. After mating, the female cicada uses a knife-like organ to slit or puncture twigs of woody plants. She then lays eggs in the slits. In about 6 weeks the eggs hatch and the nymphs drop to the ground. They then dig into the soil and begin feeding by sucking sap from the tree roots. After approximately 3 years, the nymphs come out of the ground. They crawl up tree trunks, posts, or other objects; shed their last exoskeleton and emerge as adult, winged cicada. These adults live about one month. During this time they mate, and each female lays from 400 to 600 eggs.
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.
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