LIfe cycle of the cicada

The Life Cycle of a Cicada – By Dhillon and dictated to Chris

The male cicada has two wings to hide its sound information from the female. The male cicada has a long tail and likes to sing. The song it is singing is “will you mate with me?” Everyone knows that the male cicada wants to mate.

Female cicadas are mostly green, have a short tail and do not sing.  The female chooses whether she wants to mate with the cicada. If the female wants to mate the male, the male will stop singing and she will let the male stroke the ends of her wings. The longer the male mates with the female the more eggs the female will lay. If they want to lay about 700 eggs they would need to mate for about 10 minutes.  Cicada eggs take about 60 to 120 days to hatch.

In Spring time the Nymphs (the children) want to find some roots to eat. They have beaks like tubes that help them pierce the roots of trees.  They have large front legs for digging. They need to keep warm because they will die in the cold. The nymph stays alive underground for 4 or 5 years.  The nymphs are just like rabbits, they burrow out of their tunnel to the surface.  They come out at night when it is warm and when the birds are asleep.