mythology of cicadas

[wonderwes]

just about 30 min ago i went to turn off my porch light when i noticede my dog in my garage .so i brought him out side when a cicada fell on his head he insatantly grabed it . i took it away from him and it was fine.so i look up and saw his mate .i have never seen one at night time i went to grab it . and it screeched that horrible sound peircing my ears .i droped it and it flew at me attacking me, bombarding me until it finaly knocked it self out.this rattled me a bit becouse i have never seen one act this way so i brought the lovers back together....myths have surrounded this bug for years and i want some one to clear them up for me first off i have heard that they spend 100 years living as a grub under ground and then moult into cicadas i have seen the grubs so i know thats true ...and any way i hear they only live one night ..however i am willing to bet neither of these is true .at the most i figure they might spend tweenty years under ground . and the one night thing i dont belive either.also i have heard they can throw their voice to throw off would be predators..finaly could you idenitfy this speices and tell me wich is male and wich is female?..also for id i live in central alabama

 

[Aztek]

I'm no expert but the one that makes noise is a male and the one that doesn't is not.

And the ones that spend the most time underground is the 17 year Magicicada

And I can't really see your pictures.

 

[kahoy]

looks silvery

 

[Chrysopid]

I love cicadas!
I think Aztek is right, the male is the noisy one

I think that I know some things about them but let me look them up to be sure...

I know that the species with camo looking green black and brown are referred to as Dog Day Cicadas but there are many species all in the Genus Tibicen that this refers to.

Even though the 17 year Magiccicada says underground as a grub for 17 years, the Dog Day Cicadas that are out every year spend anywhere from 1-3 ears underground as grubs depending on species. I know the grubs eat roots of trees but they don’t eat enough to do damage. Some damage is done to very very young trees by the adult cicadas laying eggs on them, especially the periodical cicadas which come out in the thousands.

The Magiccicada is one of the longest living insects. You can find brood maps online to see when a brood near you will be comming out. Kansas is 2015. There is also a Cicada Killer Wasp which is very interesting because it is a parasitoid of the Dog Day Cicadas.

I think those might be 2 different species. Everything I've ever heard says the only difference between male and female is sound production, not color variation. I want to find out what the black and white one is but I have to do that later! I will tell you if I find out, though. Very interesting! Thanks for the story.

 

[wonderwes]

very interesting

yeah sorry guys all i have is this crapy camera phone .thats very intersting about them being 2 diffrent speices.do you think they could be cross breeding

 

[wonderwes]

the white one

the white one has metalic green on him its very very shiny

 

[Black Widow88]

I've never heard of a cicada acting like that before in my life and I've seen so many of them. For one thing females have an ovipositor ( egg laying tube ) sticking out of her abdomen and is only used to lay eggs. And obviously the males don't have any.

I think that the females can withdraw their ovipositors in and out though if I'm not mistaken. I don't know if every species does this but some one correct me if I'm wrong or provide more info since that's the only thing I think is right since I don't see the ovipositor sticking out when a female is mating.

I also knew that they're were myths about cicadas but I never actually heard of any. One things for sure: NO CICADA SPENDS ITS NYMPHAL STAGES UNDER GROUND FOR 100 YEARS!

Black Widow88

 

[bugmankeith]

A myth I heard is cicadas sting you, but thats false.

Might I add they look nothing alike, you sure they were mating? Can you get a better picture of the silver cicada, perhaps by some light.

 

[Black Widow88]

So false! Any more?

Black Widow88

 

[wonderwes]

yeah i have never seen one act like that either.it realy confused me. i picked up the camo one and it played dead.the only reason i can think of is that they had to have been mating she/he fell from that exact spot.sorry i dont have many pics just a few more of them ill put more on latter

 

[wonderwes]

heres the only other descent ones i found .. also another myth can they throw there voices to avoid preditors

 

[Black Widow88]

When you say 'throw their voices to predators' what exactly to you mean? :?

Black Widow88

 

[wonderwes]

um like a man throwing his voice to a puppet

 

[wonderwes]

to make it sound as if they are some where else .(a diff location)

 

[wonderwes]

also we never get a lot of cicadas u might see them once every 2-3 years around hear but you can usualy hear them

 

[Aztek]

Like a ventriloquist?
I doubt they can do that.

 

[wonderwes]

yeah i kind of dobt that also

 

[wonderwes]

id

were u able to id the silver one for me yet

 

[Black Widow88]

Awesome! Too bad that's only a myth.

 

[wonderwes]

actualy theres a simmilar myth about a frog that lives around hear that people say has the same ability i wish i could rember its name .its a very popular pet. oh i know barking tree frog