August 26, 2010
cicadas and the moon
I am enjoying these late summer nights, the full moon on the 24th was dazzling. It was the Full Sturgeon Moon, named by the fishing tribes of long ago because sturgeon was easily caught during this month of August. I guess if we were to name it today, we would call it the Back to School Moon, but it sounds so much more romantic to be given a name connected to nature. Also apparent during these last summer nights are the sounds of the cicadas – nearly deafening sounds that slice the otherwise quiet summer nights. I remember learning/hearing about the unusual (and depressing) life cycle of these night creatures and I was able to find a simple explanation to share with you at The Gardener’s Network and a photographer, Mickey Delcambre, has sent an up close dramatic photo of one of these fascinating bugs.
The Life Cycle of a Cicada
“While the Cicada life span may be as long as 17 years, they spend almost all of their lives underground. Cicada nymphs emerge from the ground in periodic cycles. They climb up trees and quickly shed their skins(molt). An adult, flying cicada emerges. The adult Cicadas' entire purpose in life is to mate and produce offspring. You can hear the males' mating "song" from early morning to nightfall. In heavily infested areas, the noise can be quite disturbing. About five to ten days after mating, the female lands on twigs of deciduous trees, cuts slits in them, and lays her eggs in the slit.
Adults do not eat. Rather, damage to trees is caused by the adult female as she cuts slices into twigs to lay her eggs. Shortly after mating, the male Cicada dies.
The eggs hatch, producing tiny nymphs that fall to the ground. These nymphs burrow into the soil and feast on underground roots. They remain there for years, slowly growing, until their periodic cycle calls them to emerge again as adults.”
photo by mickey delcambre
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