I snagged this emerging cicada .gif from FinPeng months ago. I met the cicadas again while I was out of town. They haven’t changed. I love ‘em. The ones I saw were black with little red beady eyes, and their wings were black, not green like this one’s. Maybe they darken up later.
The cicada is the insect with the longest known lifespan; 17 years is the record, with all but a few days of it’s life spent underground as grubs. Then they emerge from the ground, crawl up something convenient, and shed their shells. Then they just screw around for a coupla weeks and make a lot of noise. They don’t eat during this mating frenzy. Then the females lay eggs in the trees, and die undignified deaths along with their mates. The eggs hatch and the larva drop to the ground in shame where they burrow in for another 17 years.
Friday, 11 July 2008 at 1:53 AM
in country areas here in Tasmania the cicada’s go nuts in summer. some places you can hardly hear yourself think due to their noise
Friday, 11 July 2008 at 4:51 AM
Something oddly similar to that transformation happened to me on my last birthday.
Turned out that I was just dusty.