Cicadas are a large group of insect species found on every continent except Antarctica, best known for the loud, continuous buzzing or clicking songs produced by males using specialized drum-like membranes called tymbals on the sides of the abdomen, among the loudest sounds produced by any insect. Cicada nymphs live underground for extended periods, feeding on fluid from plant roots, and in some North American species this underground stage lasts an unusually long and precise thirteen or seventeen years before the nymphs emerge together in massive, synchronized broods to molt into adults, a phenomenon studied as a striking example of predator-swamping survival strategy. Adult cicadas live for only a few weeks above ground, focused on mating, and while periodical cicada broods draw the most attention, most of the roughly three thousand known cicada species have shorter, less synchronized life cycles.
Facts
Classification
System (Realm) Relationship to PeopleUsed in Traditional Medicine 1 Living or Extinct Identification
Distinguishing AppearanceDivided into two families, the two-species Tettigarctidae of Australia and the more than 3,000-species Cicadidae found worldwide. 1 Comparison
CITES Appendix Scientific NameSuperfamily Cicadoidea (families Tettigarctidae and Cicadidae) 1 Connections
Child Taxon Of
In Biome
Source Cicada (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Sources
1. Cicada (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationWikipedia: Cicada, introduction
The cicadas () are a superfamily, the Cicadoidea, of insects in the order Hemiptera (true bugs).
Wikipedia: Cicada, introduction, family split sentence
The superfamily is divided into two families, the Tettigarctidae, with two species in Australia, and the Cicadidae, with more than 3,000 species described from around the world
article text (relationship to people), EntityId 279179
Cicadas have been used as monetary symbols, in folk medicine, to forecast the weather, to provide song (in China), and in folklore and myths around the world.
In Biome: Desert, Taxonomy and diversity
Australian cicadas are found on tropical islands and cold coastal beaches around Tasmania, in tropical wetlands, high and low deserts, alpine areas of New South Wales and Victoria, large cities including Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, and Tasmanian highlands and snowfields.
In Biome: Wetlands, Taxonomy and diversity
Australian cicadas are found on tropical islands and cold coastal beaches around Tasmania, in tropical wetlands, high and low deserts, alpine areas of New South Wales and Victoria, large cities including Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, and Tasmanian highlands and snowfields.
View the Source 2. Cicada (Wikipedia)
- feeding on watery sap from xylem tissue
- typically live in trees
View the Source3. Wikidata (taxon extant/extinct status)
Wikimedia Foundation / Wikidata contributorsQ1947892, descriptionView the Source 4. UNEP-WCMC Species+ database (CITES Secretariat): Species+: Insecta
UNEP-WCMC Species+ database (CITES Secretariat)Species+ taxon_concepts, id 28Quote, Species+ taxon_concepts, id 28
"cites_listing":"I/II/III/NC","eu_listing":"A/B/C/NC","higher_taxa":{"kingdom":"Animalia","phylum":"Arthropoda","class":"Insecta","order":null,"family":null},"synonyms":[],"common_names":[{"name":"Insectos","language":"ES"},{"name":"Insects","language":"EN"},{"name":"Insectes","language":"FR"},{"name":"昆虫纲","language":"ZH"}],"cites_listings":[]
Wikidata: Cicada
Wikidata Q1947892, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source Catalogue of Life
Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of LifeChild Taxon Of: HemipteraView the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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