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CICADA (Cicadidae)

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Originally appearing in Volume V06, Page 353 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CICADA (Cicadidae) , See also:insects of the homopterous See also:division of the See also:Hemiptera, generally of large See also:size, with the femora of the anterior legs toothed below, two pairs of large clear wings, and prominent See also:compound eyes. Cicadas are chiefly remarkable for the shrill See also:song of the See also:males, which in some cases may be heard in See also:concert at a distance of a See also:quarter of a mile or more. The vocal See also:organs, of which there is a pair in the See also:thorax, protected by an opercular See also:plate, are quite unlike the See also:sounding organs of other insects. Each consists in essence of a tightly stretched membrane or See also:drum which is thrown into a See also:state of rapid vibration by a powerful muscle attached to its inner See also:surface and passing thence downwards to the See also:floor of the thoracic cavity. Although no auditory organs have been found in the See also:females, the song of the males is believed to serve as a sexual See also:call. Cicadas are also noteworthy for their See also:longevity, which so far as is known surpasses that of all other insects. By means of a saw-like ovipositor the See also:female See also:lays her eggs in the branches of trees. Upon hatching, the See also:young, which differ from the adult in possessing See also:long antennae and a pair of powerful fossorial anterior legs, fall to the ground, burrow below the surface, and spend a prolonged subterranean larval existence feeding upon the roots of vegetation. After many years the larva is transformed into the pupa or nymph, which is distinguishable principally by the shortness of its antennae and the presence of wing pads. After a brief existence the pupa emerges from the ground, and, holding on to a plant See also:stem by means of its powerful front legs, sets See also:free the perfect See also:insect through a slit along the median dorsal See also:line of the thorax. In some cases the pupa upon emerging constructs a See also:chimney of See also:soil, the use of which is not known. In one of the best-known See also:species, Cicada septemdecim, from See also:North See also:America, the See also:life-See also:cycle is said to extend over seventeen years.

Cicadas are particularly abundant in the tropics, where the largest forms are found. They also occur in temperate countries, and were well known to the See also:

ancient Greeks and See also:Romans. One species only is found in See also:England, where it is restricted to the See also:southern counties but is an insect not commonly met with.

End of Article: CICADA (Cicadidae)

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