Description of the Cicada:
Cicadas are large insects made conspicuous by the courtship calls of the males. They are characterised by having three joints in their tarsi, and having small antennae with conical bases and three to six segments, including a seta at the tip. The Auchenorrhyncha differ from other hemipterans by having a 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 hindwing. 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, and by lacking the tympanal apparatus.
Anyone who has ever stayed near a cicada hoard will know the eerie screams of Cicadas. Although they only awake every 17 years, their songs can quite literally be deafening…
In the city I guess Cicadas try steer far away from, with people chopping down their habitat all the time and they just can’t compete with the constant buzzing of the city life… I would also much rather come sing my song in an environment that appreciates it…
These creatures are really ugly matching their real annoying song… a couple of Cicadas can still be bearable, their song can be matched to some grasshoppers… But when those couple Cicadas become a couple hundred or even thousand Cicada’s it can really become a noisy band… Kinda like allowing your teenager to start a band in your garage with no noise limits!
All though they are completely harmless – besides almost destroying your hearing – I think a lot of people are super tempted to kill these bugs the moment they see them…
They are one of the ugliest bugs I have ever seen – apart from the Roman/Sun Spider – a frequent visitor her in Sodwana Bay -That is saying a lot coming from me, since I really try see the beauty in every creature.
Living near Sibaya Lake close to Sodwana Bay we get a lot of Cicadas frequently flying into our house – Wouldn’t be surprised if some have even made a permanent residency inside… The worst part about these ugly “buggers” is when you getting ready to wash dishes and just as you about to start a cicada decides to in dive in your water or you grab the water jug to fill the dogs water bowl and one of these critters has been taking a swim in the water and pretends to be dead until you remove it from the bowl and it starts break dancing – This literally happened to me this morning – was not a pleasant early morning surprise…
Cicada hiding in a drum… Anybody know which Cicada this might be?
A few fun Facts about these creepy – Deafening Creatures – The Cicada:
- Each Cicada Species has a Variance of when they emerge… Some Cicadas will emerge once a year for a short while, whilst others will disappear for up to 17 years… This is a relief on your ears, that they don’t permanently have to hear the onslaught of Cicada singing…
- Where do Cicadas go after their cycle is done? Well you would think they would die off after they finished playing their song, but in actual fact they just regroup underground mating and keeping their populations strong and safe from predators…
- Our planet hosts some what – 1300 species of Cicada species as far as we know and South Africa has 150 Cicada Species of which have been discovered so far… Ok so I have done a little more homework on Cicadas, not all of them are as ugly as the ones we see around Sibaya… But honestly if I was a bug scientist, Cicadas would not be my first choice to study…
- Cicadas have their benefits to the environment… They help you prune your trees, they keep your tree roots in check and when they finally die they help fertilize your plants and rejuvenate the nitrogen in your soil. Best fertilizer ever!
- Just be careful if one of these critters lands on you, it might be harmless just looking for a place to rest or it might mistake your arm for a tree branch and attempt to feed… I will be very sure to shake any cicada off me from now on, not that I haven’t done this is in the past anyway… It is claimed that they don’t bite, but I am not really willing to find out what attempted feeding on feels like…
- It’s strange to think these small flying bugs can make such a huge noise and what is even more bizarre it is only the males who make these noises, hoping to woo the girls… I bet what we perceive as just horrible deafening noise is a beautiful melody to female cicada’s… But how can you choose between hundreds or even thousands of men tryna pursue you… That must be a really tough choice…
- Cicadas are a prize food in certain cultures and exotic nations, such as the Chinese, Central Africa even the posh ancient Greeks ate Cicadas… People who eat Cicadas claim the females are much more meatier then the males, some people will even eat their eggs and nymphs as well… No thank you, that is one thing I will not ever try is bugs, I think most girls will agree on this topic, bugs and guts is off the menu!!!
- Oddly enough there are a lot of myths and legends about these strange creatures… I really don’t wanna get into all the myths as there a lot of them… Obviously on top of the list would be Chinese myths along side the Japanese tails and Legend is not a true legend if the Greek gods were not involved… Although the Greek gods seem to get a lot of things wrong in their gifts to humanity…. Obviously any culture or nations around the world who have experience with Cicadas will have a story and belief of who and what they are and of course what they symbolize as well… Even the French have a story to tell about these creatures… If you wanna learn more about the myths and legends of the cicada, feel free to do some research on them…
- Some cultures believe these creatures have medicinal powers… No thank you I’d rather take my chances with other herbal remedies than use a bug that supposedly might cure you, I think it might just kill you thinking about using it as medicine… Ok, but that’s just coming from a westerners point of view… What do you think?
I am never gonna be a fan of cicadas, but I do respect their role they play for the environment… Hope you found this article interesting… There is loads more info on our sources below so feel free to take a look!
Our factual sources for this article came from: WikiPedia
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