Cicadas

[tickerbox]

Hi all,

I spent last week up in the Blue Mountains at Blackheath NSW. For the first time in years I saw cicadas
They were crawling out of holes in the ground and making their way to the trees, then emerging from their shells.
There were thousands of them everywhere.

I have such awesome memories of these little critters from my childhood, climbing up trees to see green grocers, yellow mondays, brown bakers, black princes, cherry noses, tigers... My kids loved it too!

Did any of you guys search for these little fellas too when you were young? Here's a few pics...

 

[Rob]

Nice pics. When I was a young'un I spent a lot of time at my Nan's house in Five Dock. Every summer I used to catch heaps of Cicadas, though I only ever saw green grocers, yellow mundays & black princes. Although I'd heard of them, I never actually got to see any others.

 

[JM1982]

Ah, memories.

Nice pics

 

[Shotta]

nice, I like the first and last pics, i used to love catching cicadas as a kid

 

[JM1982]

I got detention for putting about 6 shells in someones bike helmet at school, many moons ago, worked a treat as they stuck to the helmets padding like Velcro as you can imagine. And...
...'Crunch!'

Ah, fun times.

*no cicadas were hurt in the making of this prank.

 

[cridon96]

Yeah I used to love catching them as a kid, you have inspired me to take my four year old daughter on a cicada hunt soon she has never seen one so should be fun

 

[tickerbox]

I got detention for putting about 6 shells in someones bike helmet at school, many moons ago, worked a treat as they stuck to the helmets padding like Velcro as you can imagine. And...
...'Crunch!'

Ah, fun times.

*no cicadas were hurt in the making of this prank.

Nicely done!

We also used to get into all kinds of strife at school for putting the shells on people's jumpers, especially the jumpers of the girls who were squeamish and were certain to make lots of noise about it

- - - Updated - - -

Yeah I used to love catching them as a kid, you have inspired me to take my four year old daughter on a cicada hunt soon she has never seen one so should be fun

Awesome! I'm sure your daughter will love it! My kids had them crawling all over them

 

[SteveNT]

Yep, always loved cicadas.

 

[wildthings]

Awesome pics, same thing here last summer, they havn't really been around in large numbers since about 2002, last summer the double drummers erupted from the ground by the thousands, some trees you could barely see the bark for them and you couldn't get too close in case of hearing damage lol, it was an amazing sight, totally love the cicadas

 

[Ellannn]

I was terrified of them when I was little!!! I would scream and run if I crossed paths with one.

But now that I'm older they are actually quite cute.

 

[cridon96]

I was terrified of them when I was little!!! I would scream and run if I crossed paths with one.

But now that I'm older they are actually quite cute.

My older sister was terrified of them too, probably why I loved catching them so much. There is nothing like chasing your older sister around with a cicada, I wonder if that would still work hmmmm.....

 

[borntobnude]

we painted them with our model paint and put them all over the xmas tree much to mums disgust

 

[Coppersimon]

Cicadas are pretty amazing little things. From memory they have a 17 year cycle from egg to maturity.

 

[Unclewo-wo]

that lasts from two to five years. Some species have much longer life cycles, such as the North American genus, Magicicada, which has a number of distinct "broods" that go through either a 17-year or, in some parts of the world, a 13-year life cycle. These long life cycles perhaps developed as a response to predators, such as the cicada killer wasp and praying mantis. A predator with a shorter life cycle of at least two years could not reliably prey upon the cicadas.

 

[tickerbox]

that lasts from two to five years. Some species have much longer life cycles, such as the North American genus, Magicicada, which has a number of distinct "broods" that go through either a 17-year or, in some parts of the world, a 13-year life cycle. These long life cycles perhaps developed as a response to predators, such as the cicada killer wasp and praying mantis. A predator with a shorter life cycle of at least two years could not reliably prey upon the cicadas.

Hi Unclewo, thanks for that info. Very interesting. It's hard to believe that this awesome creature can live underground for so long before coming upstairs. I'm amazed! What do they do down there all that time? What do they eat, etc? Does Australia have those Cicada killer wasps?

- - - Updated - - -

that lasts from two to five years. Some species have much longer life cycles, such as the North American genus, Magicicada, which has a number of distinct "broods" that go through either a 17-year or, in some parts of the world, a 13-year life cycle. These long life cycles perhaps developed as a response to predators, such as the cicada killer wasp and praying mantis. A predator with a shorter life cycle of at least two years could not reliably prey upon the cicadas.

we painted them with our model paint and put them all over the xmas tree much to mums disgust

I hear you mate... I think that most of us treated them with questionable measures...

- - - Updated - - -

My older sister was terrified of them too, probably why I loved catching them so much. There is nothing like chasing your older sister around with a cicada, I wonder if that would still work hmmmm.....

Haha, I know what you mean... my sister also had certain "hardships" growing up

 

[Unclewo-wo]

In North America, the term "cicada killer wasp" usually refers to the most well-known species, the Eastern cicada killer (S. speciosus). There are also a few other related genera sometimes referred to as "cicada killers", e.g. Liogorytes in South America and Exeirus in Australia.

Cicadas live underground as nymphs for most of their lives, at depths ranging from about 30 centimetres (0.98 ft) down to 2.5 metres (8.2 ft). The nymphs have strong front legs for digging. Cicada nymphs suck sap from the xylem of various species of tree, including oak, cypress, willow, ash, and maple. While it is common folklore that adults do not eat, in reality they do have their own sucking mouthparts, and also drink plant sap.


This is not my information all found online as I have a fascination for my reptiles and what they eat. I am also looking in to the dragonfly and nymphs at the moment and you are welcome

 

[tickerbox]

In North America, the term "cicada killer wasp" usually refers to the most well-known species, the Eastern cicada killer (S. speciosus). There are also a few other related genera sometimes referred to as "cicada killers", e.g. Liogorytes in South America and Exeirus in Australia.

Cicadas live underground as nymphs for most of their lives, at depths ranging from about 30 centimetres (0.98 ft) down to 2.5 metres (8.2 ft). The nymphs have strong front legs for digging. Cicada nymphs suck sap from the xylem of various species of tree, including oak, cypress, willow, ash, and maple. While it is common folklore that adults do not eat, in reality they do have their own sucking mouthparts, and also drink plant sap.


This is not my information all found online as I have a fascination for my reptiles and what they eat. I am also looking in to the dragonfly and nymphs at the moment and you are welcome

Hey Unclewo, thanks for this info. Much appreciated.

I note that the cicadas I have caught have a tube/needle/syringe like appendage under their head that extends downward at times. When I was a kid I first thought that it may be a stinging mechanism, but now I can only imagine that this must be for feeding?

What is the colouration of cicadas like in the USA and elsewhere? In Australia their colouration seems to be quite distinct depending in geographical location. For example, on the North Shore of Sydney the Cicadas are larger and tend towards green, brown, yellow colours. In the Blue Mountains most Cicadas seem to have these same colourations, but with black stripes. However, only 15 kms from Turramurra on the North Shore, in the suburb of Berowra, I have only ever encountered much smaller Cicadas that are completely black in colour. There seem to be very small ranges for sub species?

- - - Updated - - -

Awesome pics, same thing here last summer, they havn't really been around in large numbers since about 2002, last summer the double drummers erupted from the ground by the thousands, some trees you could barely see the bark for them and you couldn't get too close in case of hearing damage lol, it was an amazing sight, totally love the cicadas

Hey Wildthings. Wow, yeah - double drummers! I had forgotten about those ones. I can imagine that it was noisy.

I wonder what the double drum thing is all about? Interesting little critters

 

[Gecko :)]

We seem to have a plague of these guys atm!
I find them fascinating & love watching them morph!

Disappointing to hear some people have been feeding them to their beardies though :/


- - - Updated - - -

 

[tickerbox]

We seem to have a plague of these guys atm!
I find them fascinating & love watching them morph!

Disappointing to hear some people have been feeding them to their beardies though :/

Yes, a plague like condition at the moment for sure!
Great pics Gecko! I agree, it's fantastic to see them morph like that.
Here's a pic of one that I saw the other week morphing too.



- - - Updated - - -

View attachment 299173View attachment 299172View attachment 299171View attachment 299164View attachment 299168View attachment 299166
View attachment 299167View attachment 299163View attachment 299169View attachment 299170View attachment 299165

Hi Gecko, I totally agree, it's amazing to see these guys morph!

I love your photos. Very nice!

Here is another pic from the other week of one morphing.

- - - Updated - - -

Oh, and Gecko, here is also another aspect of morphing that I think is important... as it relates to us humans.

When one of my kids saw the process of Cicada morphing on a tree trunk, she said: "Dad, I just want to help him out, and pull him out of the shell. It looks so hard for the poor little thing to do all by itself".

I realised, and then explained to my daughter: "This struggle is part of the Cicada's success. If you help it out of there, it won't be able to have the struggle it needs to be able to grow strong wings. If you help it out, it will never be able to fly. It looks hard, but it needs to do it all by itself. Struggling is part of being able to mature".

Then it hit me...

How appropriate is this same principle to us humans too. Hardship and struggle develop character. And overcoming hardship and developing character is essential to our long term wellbeing and survival.

 

[Rob]

Awesome thread. Here's a little guy found in the bedroom the other night that I released outside. He was tiny, less than 20mm.