I have been hearing a few…not too many. At any rate, the 17 year ones came a few years ago-so would these be 7 year or some other time?
There are Cicadas with many different maturity cycles, and each brood has some individuals that mature every year (there’s not just one batch of 17-year Cicadas).
You would need to catch one to be sure.
Aren’t there also annuals, that stay underground a single season?
Cicadas emerging this time of year are annual cicadas. They live two to five years underground, depending on the species and I believe on conditions underground. They do not have synchronized emergence, so some emerge every summer.
A bit of a hijack, but what benefit do they serve to the ecosystem? Would it be a terrible thing if they disappeared? I just had my house tented for termites; might I have wiped out a generation of cicadae? I would look it up myself but I do not want to risk seeing any photos <shudder>.
Like every other living thing, their ‘purpose’ - if they have one - is to reproduce and make more cicadas.
Insects that spend a long time developing as larvae typically contain a significant stored energy reserve and represent a rich source of food for birds, reptiles, bats, bigger insects, etc.
Do they bury themselves?
My understanding (based pretty much on nothing I guess) was that the eggs were laid in the ground. They hatched there. Lived out the X number of years alloted to them then sprang forth to irritate country sleepers and reproduce.
Is this not correct?
Generally speaking, adults lay their eggs in slits they make within the bark of trees. The very early larval stage then fall to the ground that same year, where they spend the next (X) number of years pupating, feeding on the root system of the original host plant.
Well, I guess that clears that up.
Thank you.
I think distinct broods of individual species all emerge at the same time regionally.
Unless there are overlapping regions, it is unlikely to see the same specie emerge out of (sic) “synchronization”.
You are welcome.