An adult 17- year cicada
I bet you have never seen a live cicada before! Why? Cicadas live high up in trees and never come down until they die. However, cicadas first spent their lives below ground as nymphs. Below ground, they suck sap from trees until they are ready to emerge, just like dragonflies and their nymphs. Depending on the species, different cicada nymphs will spend different amounts of time in this stage. The species that I mentioned is the 17-year cicada. This type of cicada spends 17 years underground. There are other types of cicadas who spend a shorter amount of time below ground. Seventeen years seems like a long time to you, but when the time has passed away, the results are worth waiting for. Hundreds of thousands of cicadas emerge at the same time and ascend a tree to molt. Unfortunately, this spectacle can only be seen in certain parts of the world.
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A cicada nymph
When a cicada nymph finds a high, sheltered place in a tree, the change will begin. Just like with dragonflies, a new form bursts out of the nymph's back. When it first emerges, the cicada will be white, but as it grows older, its costume will darken. Then the cicada, if it is a male, will ascend further and begin his song. If it is a female, she too will ascend, but not call. It is only the males who do so, because the purpose of the call is to attract a mate. When a female makes her choice, she will walk in the direction of the male and tell him that she has chosen him by flicking her wings. This sounds like a human snapping their fingers!
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An emerging cicada!
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