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{{Short description|Superfamily of insects}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Cicada
| fossil_range = {{fossil range|Late Triassic | recent}}
| image = Cicada - Neotibicen linnei, Woodbridge, Virginia.jpg
| image_caption =  Linne's cicada, ''[[Neotibicen linnei]]''
| image2 = Calling song of Magicicada cassini - pone.0000892.s002.oga
| image2_caption = Calling song of ''[[Magicicada cassini]]''
| taxon = Cicadoidea
| authority = Latreille, 1802
| subdivision_ranks = Families
| subdivision = {{plainlist|
* [[Tettigarctidae]]
* [[Cicadidae]]
}}
}}

The '''cicadas''' ({{IPAc-en|s|ɪ|ˈ|k|ɑː|d|ə|z|,_|-|ˈ|k|eɪ|-}}) are a superfamily, the '''Cicadoidea''', of [[insect]]s in the order [[Hemiptera]] (true bugs). They are in the suborder [[Auchenorrhyncha]],{{efn|The Auchenorrhyncha were formerly part of the obsolete "[[Homoptera]]"}} along with smaller jumping bugs such as [[leafhopper]]s and [[froghopper]]s. The superfamily is divided into two families, the [[Tettigarctidae]], with two species in Australia, and the [[Cicadidae]], with more than 3,000 species [[Taxonomy (biology)#Taxonomic descriptions|described]] from around the world; many species remain [[Undescribed taxon|undescribed]]. Nearly all cicada species are [[annual cicada]]s with the exception of the few North American [[periodical cicada]] species, genus ''[[Magicicada]]'', which in a given region emerge en masse every 13 or 17 years.

Cicadas have prominent eyes set wide apart, short antennae, and membranous front wings. They have an exceptionally loud song, produced in most species by the rapid buckling and unbuckling of drum-like [[tymbal]]s. The earliest known fossil Cicadomorpha appeared in the [[Upper Permian]] period; extant species occur all around the world in temperate to tropical climates. They typically live in trees, feeding on watery sap from [[xylem]] tissue, and laying their eggs in a slit in the bark. Most cicadas are [[crypsis|cryptic]]. The vast majority of species are active during the day as adults, with some calling at dawn or dusk. Only a rare few species are known to be nocturnal.

One exclusively North American genus, ''Magicicada'' (the [[periodical cicadas]]), which spend most of their lives as underground nymphs, emerge in predictable intervals of 13 or 17 years, depending on the species and the location. The unusual duration and synchronization of their emergence may reduce the number of cicadas lost to [[predation]], both by making them a less reliably available prey (so that any predator that evolved to depend on cicadas for sustenance might starve waiting for their emergence), and by emerging in such huge numbers that they will satiate any remaining predators before losing enough of their number to threaten their survival as a species.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Simon |first1=Chris |last2=Cooley |first2=John R. |title=Advances in the Evolution and Ecology of Thirteen- and Seventeen-year periodical cicadas |journal=Annual Review of Entomology |date=2022 |volume=67|pages=457–482 |doi=10.1146/annurev-ento-072121-061108|pmid=34623904 |s2cid=238529885 |issn=0066-4170 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

The [[annual cicada]]s are species that emerge every year. Though these cicadas' life cycles can vary from 1 to 9 or more years as underground nymphs, their emergence above ground as adults is not synchronized, so some members of each species appear every year.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://entomologytoday.org/2016/03/22/how-do-cicadas-know-when-to-emerge-from-the-ground/|title=How Do Cicadas Know When to Emerge from the Ground?|last=Fitzgerals|first=Kevin|date=22 March 2016|website=Entomology Today|access-date=24 July 2017}}</ref>

Cicadas have been featured in literature since the time of [[Homer]]'s ''[[Iliad]]'' and as motifs in art from the Chinese [[Shang dynasty]].<ref>[https://orthsoc.org/sina/c700lm29sec01.pdf Insect singers] orthsoc.org</ref> They have also been used in myth and folklore as symbols of carefree living and immortality. The cicada is also mentioned in [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Shield of Heracles|Shield]]'' (ll.393–394), in which it is said to sing when millet first ripens. Cicadas are eaten by humans in various parts of the world, including [[China]], [[Myanmar]], [[Malaysia]], central [[Africa]] and parts of [[Mexico]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mitsuhashi |first=Jun |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T5W_DQAAQBAJ |title=Edible Insects of the World |date=2016-12-19 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-1-315-35088-2 |pages=2009–2010 |language=en}}</ref>

==Etymology==
{{wiktionary}}
The name is directly from the [[onomatopoeia|onomatopoeic]] [[Latin]] ''cicada''.<ref>{{cite dictionary |title=cicada |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cicada |dictionary=Merriam-Webster |access-date=16 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Words To Remember Every 13 Years Or So|url=http://www.dictionary.com/e/cicadas/|website=Dictionary.com|date=22 May 2011|access-date=16 January 2018}}</ref>{{efn|See [[katydid]] for more etymology.}}

[[File:Cicada, 1939 Film.webm|thumb|Cicada is a 1939 film that was produced and ditributed by United States Department of Agriculture Motion Picture Service.]]

==Taxonomy and diversity==
[[File:Snodgrass Magicicada septendecim.jpg|thumb|A [[Magicicada cassinii|17-year cicada]], ''Magicicada'', [[Robert Evans Snodgrass]], 1930<ref>{{cite book |last1=Snodgrass |first1=Robert Evans |author-link1=Robert Evans Snodgrass |title=Insects Their Ways and Means of Living |year=1930 |publisher=Smithsonian |page=Facing page 198 |edition=1st |url=https://archive.org/stream/39088001578236#page/n239/mode/2up/search/cicada}}</ref>]]

The superfamily Cicadoidea is a sister of the [[Froghopper|Cercopoidea]] (the froghoppers). Cicadas are arranged into two families: the Tettigarctidae and Cicadidae. The two [[extant taxon|extant]] species of the Tettigarctidae include one in southern Australia and the other in [[Tasmania]]. The family Cicadidae is subdivided into the subfamilies [[Cicadettinae]], [[Cicadinae]], [[Derotettiginae]], [[Tibicininae]] (or Tettigadinae), and [[Tettigomyiinae]],<ref name=phylo2018>{{cite journal |last1=Marshall |first1=DC |last2=Moulds |first2=M |last3=Hill |first3=KBR |last4=Price |first4=BW |last5=Wade |first5=EJ |last6=Owen |first6=CO |last7=Goemans |first7=G |last8=Marathe |first8=K |last9=Sarkar |first9=V |last10=Cooley |first10=JR |last11=Sanborn |first11=AF |last12=Kunte |first12=K |last13=Villet |first13=MH |last14=Simon |first14=C |author14-link=Chris Simon (biologist) |year=2018 |title=A molecular phylogeny of the cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) with a review of tribe and subfamily classification |journal=Zootaxa |volume=4424 |issue=1 |pages=1–64 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.4424.1.1 |pmid=30313477 |doi-access=free }}</ref> and they are found on all continents except Antarctica. Some previous works also included a family-level taxon called the [[Tibiceninae]]. The largest species is the Malaysian emperor cicada ''[[Megapomponia imperatoria]]''; its wingspan is up to about {{convert|20|cm|in|0|abbr=on}}.<!--<ref>{{cite web |title=Hemiptera (bugs) cicadas, leaf hoppers, frog hoppers, etc. |url=http://www.bumblebee.org/invertebrates/Hemiptera2.htm |publisher=Bumblebee.org |access-date=27 August 2015}}</ref>--><ref name="Carwardine2008">{{cite book |last=Carwardine |first=Mark |title=Animal Records |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T3FEKopUFkUC&pg=PA224 |year=2008 |publisher=Sterling Publishing |isbn=978-1-4027-5623-8 |page=224}}</ref> Cicadas are also notable for the great length of time some species take to mature.<ref name="Burton2002">{{cite book|author1=Burton, Maurice |author2=Burton, Robert |title=International Wildlife Encyclopedia: Chickaree - crabs|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BumyQJ14n8sC&pg=PA455 |year=2002 |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |isbn=978-0-7614-7270-4 |pages=455–457}}</ref>

At least 3,000 cicada species are distributed worldwide, in essentially any habitat that has deciduous trees, with the majority being in the tropics. Most genera are restricted to a single biogeographical region, and many species have a very limited range. This high degree of [[endemism]] has been used to study the biogeography of complex island groups such as in Indonesia and Asia.<ref name=Resh>{{cite book |last1=Resh |first1=Vincent H. |last2=Cardé |first2=Ring T. |title=Encyclopedia of Insects |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jk0Hym1yF0cC&pg=PA56 |year=2009 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=978-0-08-092090-0 |pages=56–63}}</ref> There are several hundred described species in Australia and [[List of cicadas of New Zealand|New Zealand]],{{efn|A further 300 collected Australian species remain to be described.}} around 150 in South Africa, over 170 in America north of Mexico,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sanborn |first1=Allen F. |last2=Phillips |first2=Polly K. |title=Biogeography of the Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of North America, North of Mexico |journal=Diversity |date=2013 |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=166–239 |doi=10.3390/d5020166 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2013Diver...5..166S }}</ref> at least 800 in Latin America,<ref name="Hogue1993">{{cite book |last=Hogue |first=Charles Leonard |title=Latin American Insects and Entomology |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_3CTf8bnlndwC |year=1993 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-07849-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_3CTf8bnlndwC/page/n244 233]}}</ref> and over 200 in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Simon |first1=Chris |title=The Current Status of Cicada Taxonomy on a Region-by-Region Basis |url=http://hydrodictyon.eeb.uconn.edu/projects/cicada/taxonomy/current_taxo.php |publisher=University of Connecticut |date=2015 |access-date=27 August 2015 |archive-date=9 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151009192742/http://hydrodictyon.eeb.uconn.edu/projects/cicada/taxonomy/current_taxo.php }}</ref>

About 100 species occur in the [[Palearctic realm|Palaearctic]]. A few species are found in southern Europe,<ref name="Burton2002"/> and a single species was known from England, the [[Cicadetta montana|New Forest cicada]], ''Cicadetta montana'', which also occurs in continental Europe.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Marren |first1=Peter |last2=Mabey |first2=Richard|author1-link=Peter Marren|author2-link=Richard Mabey |title=Bugs Britannica |date=2010 |publisher=Chatto and Windus |isbn=978-0-7011-8180-2 |page=189}}</ref> Many species await formal description and many well-known species are yet to be studied carefully using modern acoustic analysis tools that allow their songs to be characterized.

{{cladogram|cladogram={{clade|style=font-size:75%;line-height:75%
 |label1=
 |1={{clade
  |label1=[[Cicadidae]]
  |1={{clade
   |label1=
   |1={{clade
    |label1=
    |1={{clade
     |label1=
     |1={{clade
      |1=[[Cicadinae]]
      |2=[[Cicadettinae]]
     }}
    }}
    |2=[[Tettigomyiinae]]
   }}
   |2=[[Tibicininae]]
  }}
  |2=[[Tettigarctidae]]
 }}
}}|caption=A phylogenetic treatment suggested by a 2018 study.<ref name=phylo2018 />}}

Many of the North American species are the annual or jarfly or [[dog days|dog-day]] cicadas, members of the ''[[Neotibicen]]'', ''[[Megatibicen]]'', or ''[[Hadoa]]'' genera, so named because they emerge in late July and August.<ref name= "Milne">{{cite book |last1=Milne |first1=Lorus |last2=Milne |first2=Margery |title=The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Insects and Spiders |publisher=Alfred A Knopf |date=1992 |isbn=978-0-394-50763-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/nationalaudubons00miln }}</ref> The best-known North American genus, however, may be ''[[Magicicada]]''. These periodical cicadas have an extremely long life cycle of 13 or 17 years, with adults suddenly and briefly [[predator satiation|emerging in large numbers]].<ref name="Milne" /><ref name=magicicada>{{Cite web| url = http://magicicada.org/magicicada/broods/| title = Periodical Cicadas| website = magicicada.org| access-date = 23 August 2018| archive-date = 11 November 2020| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201111183653/http://magicicada.org/magicicada/broods/}}</ref>

[[List of cicadas of Australia|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 (Australia)|Victoria]], large cities including [[Sydney]], [[Melbourne]], and [[Brisbane]], and Tasmanian highlands and snowfields. Many of them have common names such as cherry nose, brown baker, [[Psaltoda moerens|red eye]], greengrocer, yellow Monday, whisky drinker, [[double drummer]], and black prince. The Australian greengrocer, ''[[Cyclochila australasiae]]'', is among the loudest insects in the world.<ref>{{Cite web | title=Cicadas: Superfamily Cicadoidea| publisher=Australian Museum |url=https://australian.museum/learn/animals/insects/cicadas-superfamily-cicadoidea/ |access-date=30 July 2016}}</ref>

[[File:Chorus cicada.jpg|thumb|A [[chorus cicada]], a species endemic to New Zealand]]

[[File:Cicada - Japan - August 2021.webm|thumb|Cicadas in [[Japan]]]]

More than 40 species from five genera populate New Zealand, ranging from sea level to mountain tops, and all are [[endemism|endemic]] to New Zealand and its surrounding islands ([[Kermadec Islands]], [[Chatham Islands]]). One species is found on Norfolk Island, which technically is part of Australia.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/cicadas/page-1|title=Introducing cicadas|website=Teara.govt.nz|access-date=10 June 2022}}</ref> The closest relatives of the NZ cicadas live in New Caledonia and Australia.

[[File:Mesogereon superbum 2.jpg|thumb|[[Mesozoic]] fossil fore wing of ''[[Mesogereon superbum]]'', Australia]]

===Palaeontology===
Fossil Cicadomorpha first appeared in the [[Late Triassic]]. The superfamily [[Palaeontinoidea]] contains three families. The Upper Permian Dunstaniidae are found in Australia and South Africa, and also in younger rocks from China. The [[Upper Triassic]] Mesogereonidae are found in Australia and South Africa.<ref name=Wang>{{cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Bo |last2=Zhang |first2=Haichun |last3=Szwedo |first3=Jacek |title=Jurassic Palaeontinidae From China and the Higher Systematics of Palaeontinoidea (Insecta: Hemiptera: Cicadomorpha) |journal=Palaeontology |date=2009 |volume=52 |issue=1 |pages=53–64 |doi=10.1111/j.1475-4983.2008.00826.x|bibcode=2009Palgy..52...53W |doi-access=free }}</ref> This group, though, is currently thought to be more distantly related to Cicadomorpha than previously thought.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Szwedo |first1=Jacek |title=The unity, diversity and conformity of bugs (Hemiptera) through time |journal=Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh |date=June 2016 |volume=107 |issue=2–3 |pages=109–128 |doi=10.1017/s175569101700038x |bibcode=2016EESTR.107..109S |s2cid=134243346 }}</ref>

[[File:Prolystra lithographica.JPG|thumb|The giant cicada ''[[Prolystra lithographica]]'' from Germany [[Jurassic]], about 145–150 million years ago]]
The [[Palaeontinidae]] or "giant cicadas" (though only distantly related to true cicadas) come from the [[Jurassic]] and [[Lower Cretaceous]] of Eurasia and South America.<ref name=Wang/> The first of these was a fore wing discovered in the [[Taynton Limestone Formation]] of Oxfordshire, England; it was initially described as a butterfly in 1873, before being recognised as a cicada-like form and renamed ''[[Palaeontina oolitica]]''.<ref name="butler">{{cite book |author=Arthur Gardiner Butler |year=1869–1874 |title=Lepidoptera Exotica; or, Descriptions and Illustrations of Exotic Lepidoptera |publisher=E. W. Jansen |url=https://archive.org/details/lepidopteraexoti00butl |pages=[https://archive.org/details/lepidopteraexoti00butl/page/126 126]–127}}</ref>

Tettigarctidae and Cicadidae had diverged from each other prior to or during the [[Jurassic]], as evidenced by fossils related to both lineages present by the Middle Jurassic (~165 million years ago). The morphology of well preserved fossils of early relatives of Cicadidae from the mid Cretaceous [[Burmese amber]] of Myanmar suggests that unlike many modern cicadids, they were either silent or only made quiet sounds.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jiang |first1=Hui |last2=Szwedo |first2=Jacek |last3=Labandeira |first3=Conrad C. |last4=Chen |first4=Jun |last5=Moulds |first5=Maxwell S. |last6=Mähler |first6=Bastian |last7=Muscente |first7=A. Drew |last8=Zhuo |first8=De |last9=Nyunt |first9=Thet Tin |last10=Zhang |first10=Haichun |last11=Wei |first11=Cong |last12=Rust |first12=Jes |last13=Wang |first13=Bo |date=2024-01-08 |title=Mesozoic evolution of cicadas and their origins of vocalization and root feeding |journal=Nature Communications |language=en |volume=15 |issue=1 |page=376 |doi=10.1038/s41467-023-44446-x |issn=2041-1723 |pmc=10774268 |pmid=38191461|bibcode=2024NatCo..15..376J }}</ref> Most fossil Cicadidae are known from the Cenozoic,<ref name="Moulds2018">{{cite journal |last1=Moulds |first1=M. S. |title=Cicada fossils (Cicadoidea: Tettigarctidae and Cicadidae) with a review of the named fossilised Cicadidae |journal=Zootaxa |date=22 June 2018 |volume=4438 |issue=3 |pages=443–470 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.4438.3.2 |pmid=30313130 |s2cid=52973182 |url=https://biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/download/zootaxa.4438.3.2/33643 |doi-access=free }}</ref> and the oldest unambiguously identified modern cicadid is ''Davispia bearcreekensis'' (subfamily Tibicininae) from the [[Paleocene]], around 56–59 million years ago.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Poinar |first1=George |last2=Kritsky |first2=Gene |title=Morphological conservatism in the foreleg structure of cicada hatchlings, Burmacicada protera n. gen., n. sp. in Burmese amber, Dominicicada youngi n. gen., n. sp. in Dominican amber and the extant Magicicada septendecim (L.) (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) |journal=Historical Biology |date=October 2012 |volume=24 |issue=5 |pages=461–466 |doi=10.1080/08912963.2011.603421 |bibcode=2012HBio...24..461P |s2cid=82426789 }}</ref>

==Biology==

===Description===
<!--[[File:HeadCicadidae.jpg|thumb|Head of ''[[Magicicada septendecim]]'' showing red eyes and ocelli]]-->
[[File:Gratopsaltria Nigrofuscata Young.jpg|upright|thumb|A Japanese Min-min-zemi, called with [[:en:Onomatopoeia|onomatopoeia]] (''[[Hyalessa maculaticollis]]'', [[annual cicada]])]]
[[File:Platypleura kaempferi (NiiNii cicada).png|200px|thumb|A Japanese Nii-nii-zemi ([[:ja:ニイニイゼミ|ニイニイゼミ]]), called with [[:en:Onomatopoeia|onomatopoeia]] (''Platypleura kaempferi'', [[annual cicada]]）]]

Cicadas are large insects made conspicuous by the courtship calls of the males. They are characterized by having three joints in their [[Arthropod leg#Tarsus|tarsi]], and having small [[Antenna (biology)|antennae]] with conical bases and three to six segments, including a [[seta]] at the tip.<ref name=Cuvier/> The [[Auchenorrhyncha]] differ from other hemipterans by having a [[Rostrum (anatomy)|rostrum]] that arises from the posteroventral part of the head, complex sound-producing membranes, and a mechanism for linking the wings that involves a down-rolled edging on the rear of the fore wing and an upwardly protruding flap on the hind wing.<ref name=Resh/>

Cicadas are feeble jumpers, and nymphs lack the ability to jump altogether. Another defining characteristic is the adaptations of the fore limbs of nymphs for underground life. The relict family Tettigarctidae differs from the Cicadidae in having the [[prothorax]] extending as far as the [[Scutellum (insect anatomy)|scutellum]], and by lacking the tympanal apparatus.<ref name=Resh/>
[[File:20190828 semi uka.jpg|thumb|A black cicada just after [[Ecdysis|molting]] in the garden of a private house (Midwest Saitama Prefecture, Japan)]]

The adult insect, known as an [[imago]], is {{convert|2|to|5|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} in total length in most species. The largest, the [[empress cicada]] (''Megapomponia imperatoria''), has a head-body length around {{convert|7|cm|in|abbr=on}}, and its wingspan is {{convert|18|-|20|cm|in|0|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Burton2002"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Flindt |first1=Rainer |title=Amazing Numbers in Biology |date=2006 |publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg |isbn=978-3-540-30146-2 |page=10 }}</ref> Cicadas have prominent compound eyes set wide apart on the sides of the head. The short antennae protrude between the eyes or in front of them. They also have three small [[simple eyes in arthropods|ocelli]] located on the top of the head in a triangle between the two large eyes; this distinguishes cicadas from other members of the Hemiptera. The mouthparts form a long, sharp [[Rostrum (anatomy)|rostrum]] that they insert into the plant to feed.<ref name=Capinera/> The [[Clypeus (arthropod anatomy)|postclypeus]] is a large, nose-like structure that lies between the eyes and makes up most of the front of the head; it contains the pumping musculature.<ref>{{cite book |last=Moulds |first=Maxwell Sydney |title=Australian Cicadas |publisher=New South Wales University Press |year=1990 |page=10 |isbn=978-0-86840-139-3}}</ref>

The thorax has three segments and houses the powerful wing muscles. They have two pairs of membranous wings that may be [[hyaline]], cloudy, or pigmented. The wing venation varies between species and may help in identification. The middle thoracic segment has an [[Operculum (animal)|operculum]] on the underside, which may extend posteriorly and obscure parts of the abdomen. The abdomen is segmented, with the hindermost segments housing the reproductive organs, and terminates in females with a large, saw-edged [[ovipositor]]. In males, the abdomen is largely hollow and used as a [[Resonating device|resonating chamber]].<ref name=Capinera/>

The surface of the fore wing is [[Superhydrophobic coating|superhydrophobic]]; it is covered with minute, waxy cones, blunt spikes that create a water-repellent film. Rain rolls across the surface, removing dirt in the process. In the absence of rain, [[dew]] condenses on the wings. When the droplets coalesce, the cicada leaps several millimetres into the air, which also serves to clean the wings.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wisdom |first1=Katrina M. |last2=Watson |first2=Jolanta A. |last3=Qu |first3=Xiaopeng |last4=Liu |first4=Fangjie |last5=Watson |first5=Gregory S. |last6=Chen |first6=Chuan-Hua |title=Self-cleaning of superhydrophobic surfaces by self-propelled jumping condensate |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=26 April 2013 |volume=110 |issue=20 |pages=7992–7997 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1210770110 |pmid=23630277 |pmc=3657783 |bibcode=2013PNAS..110.7992W |doi-access=free}}
*{{cite magazine |author=Charles Q. Choi |date=April 29, 2013 |title=Cicada Wings Are Self-Cleaning |magazine=Scientific American |url=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/cicada-wings-self-cleaning/}}</ref> [[Bacteria]] landing on the wing surface are not repelled; rather, their membranes are torn apart by the nanoscale-sized spikes, making the wing surface the first-known [[biomaterial]] that can kill bacteria.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pogodin |first1=Sergey |last2=Hasan |first2=Jafar |last3=Baulin |first3=Vladimir A. |last4=Webb |first4=Hayden K. |last5=Truong |first5=Vi Khanh |last6=Phong Nguyen |first6=The Hong |last7=Boshkovikj |first7=Veselin |last8=Fluke |first8=Christopher J. |last9=Watson |first9=Gregory S. |last10=Watson |first10=Jolanta A. |last11=Crawford |first11=Russell J. |last12=Ivanova |first12=Elena P. |title=Biophysical Model of Bacterial Cell Interactions with Nanopatterned Cicada Wing Surfaces |journal=Biophysical Journal |date=February 2013 |volume=104 |issue=4 |pages=835–840 |doi=10.1016/j.bpj.2012.12.046 |pmid=23442962 |pmc=3576530 |bibcode=2013BpJ...104..835P}}
*{{cite web |author=Bob Yirka |date=March 6, 2013 |title=Researchers find cicada wing structure able to kill bacteria on contact (w/ video) |website=Phys.org |url=http://phys.org/news/2013-03-cicada-wing-bacteria-contact-video.html}}</ref>

===Temperature regulation===

Desert cicadas such as ''[[Diceroprocta apache]]'' are unusual among insects in controlling their temperature by [[evaporative cooling]], analogous to [[sweating]] in mammals. When their temperature rises above about {{convert|39|C|F|0}}, they suck excess sap from the food plants and extrude the excess water through pores in the [[tergum]] at a modest cost in energy. Such a rapid loss of water can be sustained only by feeding on water-rich [[xylem sap]]. At lower temperatures, feeding cicadas would normally need to excrete the excess water. By evaporative cooling, desert cicadas can reduce their bodily temperature by some 5&nbsp;°C.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hadley |first1=Neil F. |last2=Quinlan |first2=Michael C. |last3=Kennedy |first3=Michael L. |date=1991 |title=Evaporative cooling in the desert cicada: thermal efficiency and water/metabolic costs |journal=[[Journal of Experimental Biology]] |volume=159 |issue=1 |pages=269–283 |doi=10.1242/jeb.159.1.269 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Toolson |first=Eric C. |title=Water Profligacy as an Adaptation to Hot Deserts: Water Loss Rates and Evaporative Cooling in the Sonoran Desert Cicada, Diceroprocta apache |journal=Physiological Zoology |volume=60 |issue=4 |year=1987 |pages=379–385 |doi=10.1086/physzool.60.4.30157899 |s2cid=87904484 }}</ref> Some non-desert cicada species such as ''Magicicada tredecem'' also cool themselves evaporatively, but less dramatically.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Toolson |first1=Eric C. |last2=Toolson |first2=Elizabeth K. |title=Evaporative cooling and endothermy in the 13-year periodical cicada, Magicicada tredecem |journal=Journal of Comparative Physiology B |year=1991 |volume=161 |issue=1 |pages=109–115 |doi=10.1007/BF00258754 |s2cid=23530728 }}</ref> Conversely, many other cicadas can voluntarily raise their body temperatures as much as 22 °C (40 °F) above ambient temperature.<ref name="Sanborn et al 2003"/>

===Song===

[[File:EB1911 cicada tymbal structure.png|thumb|upright=1.1|Cicada sound-producing organs and musculature:<br />a, Body of male from below, showing cover-plates;<br />b, From above, showing drumlike [[tymbal]]s;<br />c, Section, [[muscle]]s that vibrate tymbals;<br />d, A tymbal at rest;<br />e, Thrown into vibration, as when singing]]
The "singing" of male cicadas is produced principally and in the majority of species using a special structure called a [[tymbal]], a pair of which lies below each side of the [[Anatomical terms of location|anterior]] [[abdomen|abdominal]] region. The structure is buckled by muscular action and, being made of [[resilin]], unbuckles rapidly on muscle relaxation, producing their characteristic sounds. Some cicadas, however, have mechanisms for [[stridulation]], sometimes in addition to the tymbals. Here, the wings are rubbed over a series of midthoracic ridges. In the Chinese species ''[[Subpsaltria yangi]]'', both males and females can stridulate.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Luo |first1=Changqing |last2=Wei |first2=Cong |title=Intraspecific sexual mimicry for finding females in a cicada: males produce 'female sounds' to gain reproductive benefit |journal=Animal Behaviour |date=April 2015 |volume=102 |pages=69–76 |doi=10.1016/j.anbehav.2015.01.013 |s2cid=53170339 }}</ref> The sounds may further be modulated by membranous coverings and by resonant cavities.<ref name=Cuvier>{{cite book|author1=Cuvier, Georges |author2= Blyth, Edward |author3= Mudie, Robert |author4=Johnston, George| author5= Westwood, John Obadiah |author6= Carpenter, William Benjamin |title=The Animal Kingdom: Arranged After Its Organization, Forming a Natural History of Animals, and an Introduction to Comparative Anatomy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fPvRAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA567 |year=1851 |publisher=W. S. Orr and Company |pages=567–570}}</ref>

The male abdomen in some species is largely hollow, and acts as a [[sound box]]. By rapidly vibrating these membranes, a cicada combines the clicks into apparently continuous notes, and enlarged chambers derived from the [[Invertebrate trachea|tracheae]] serve as [[Resonating device|resonating chamber]]s with which it amplifies the sound. The cicada also modulates the song by positioning its abdomen toward or away from the [[Substrate (biology)|substrate]] (their perch). Partly by the pattern in which it combines the clicks, each species produces its own distinctive mating songs and acoustic signals, ensuring that the song attracts only appropriate mates.<ref name="Milne" /> The [[Tettigarctidae|tettigarctid (or hairy) cicadas]] have rudimentary tymbals in both sexes and do not produce airborne sounds, rather, both males and females produce vibrations that are transmitted through the tree they perch upon. They are considered as representing the [[Primitive (phylogenetics)|original state]] from which other cicada communication has evolved.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Claridge |first1=Michael F. |last2=Morgan |first2=John C. |last3=Moulds |first3=Maxwell S. |title=Substrate-transmitted acoustic signals of the primitive cicada, Tettigarcta crinita Distant (Hemiptera Cicadoidea, Tettigarctidae) |journal=Journal of Natural History |date=December 1999 |volume=33 |issue=12 |pages=1831–1834 |doi=10.1080/002229399299752 |bibcode=1999JNatH..33.1831C }}</ref>

{{Listen |filename=New_Zealand_cicada_song.ogg | title=''Amphipsalta zelandica'' cicada song | description=Song, New Zealand, 2006
| filename2=Tanna_japonensis_v01.ogg |title2=Cicada chorus in Japan | description2=Chorus of ''[[Tanna japonensis]]'', Japan, 2011
| filename3=Cicadas_in_Greece.ogg |title3=Cicadas in Greece | description3=Chorus, [[Ithaca (island)|Ithaca]], 2008
| filename4=Cicada_calling_in_Irving,_TX_in_June_of_2012.ogg |title4=A single ''Neotibicen superbus'' cicada calling | description4 =Song, Texas, 2012}}
<!--ok, that's quite enough sound clips for one article, especially if we don't even know which species is involved-->

Average temperature of the natural habitat for the South American species ''[[Fidicinini|Fidicina rana]]'' is about {{convert |29|C|F|0}}. During sound production, the temperature of the tymbal muscles was found to be significantly higher.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Aidley | first1 =D. J. | last2=White | first2=D.C.S. |date=1969 | title=Mechanical properties of glycerinated fibres from the tymbal muscles of a Brazilian cicada |journal=[[Journal of Physiology]] |volume=205 |issue=1 |pages=179–192 |pmid=5347716 |pmc=1348633 | doi=10.1113/jphysiol.1969.sp008959}}</ref> Many cicadas sing most actively during the hottest hours of a summer day; roughly a [[Circadian rhythm|24-hour cycle]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Turpin |first1=Tom |title=Sound of Insect Music Ushers in Fall Season |url=https://www.agriculture.purdue.edu/agcomm/newscolumns/archives/OSL/2008/September/080911OSL.html |publisher=Purdue University |access-date=27 August 2015 |date=11 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150920165622/https://www.agriculture.purdue.edu/agcomm/newscolumns/archives/OSL/2008/September/080911OSL.html |archive-date=20 September 2015 }}</ref> Most cicadas are diurnal in their calling and [[Poikilotherm|depend on external heat]] to warm them up, while a few are capable of raising their temperatures using muscle action and some species are known to call at dusk.<ref name="Sanborn et al 2003">{{cite journal |last1=Sanborn |first1=Allen F. |last2=Villet |first2=Martin H. |last3=Phillips |first3=Polly K. |title=Hot-blooded singers: endothermy facilitates crepuscular signaling in African platypleurine cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Platypleura spp.) |journal=Naturwissenschaften |date=July 2003 |volume=90 |issue=7 |pages=305–308 |doi=10.1007/s00114-003-0428-1 |pmid=12883772 |s2cid=9090814 |bibcode=2003NW.....90..305S }}</ref> ''[[Kanakia (cicada)|Kanakia gigas]]'' and ''[[Froggattoides typicus]]'' are among the few that are known to be truly nocturnal and there may be other nocturnal species living in tropical forests.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Boulard |first1=Michel |chapter=Acoustic Signals, Diversity and Behaviour of Cicadas (Cicadidae, Hemiptera) |pages=349–368 |doi=10.1201/9781420039337-31 |title=Insect Sounds and Communication |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-429-12200-2 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ewart |first1=A. |last2=Popple |first2=L. W. |title=Songs and calling behaviour of 'Froggattoides typicus' Distant (Hemiptera: Cicadoidea: Cicadidae), a nocturnally singing cicada |journal=The Australian Entomologist |volume=34 |issue=4 |date=December 2007 |pages=127–139 |url=https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/INFORMIT.070734889311858 }}</ref>

Cicadas call from varying heights on trees. Where multiple species occur, the species may use different heights and timing of calling.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sueur |first1=J. |last2=Aubin |first2=T. |title=Is microhabitat segregation between two cicada species (''Tibicina haematodes'' and ''Cicada orni'') due to calling song propagation constraints? |journal=Naturwissenschaften |date=2003-07-01 |volume=90 |issue=7 |pages=322–326 |doi=10.1007/s00114-003-0432-5 |pmid=12883776 |bibcode=2003NW.....90..322S |s2cid=25048233 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sueur |first1=Jérôme |title=Cicada acoustic communication: potential sound partitioning in a multispecies community from Mexico (Hemiptera: Cicadomorpha: Cicadidae) |journal=Biological Journal of the Linnean Society |date=2002-03-01 |volume=75 |issue=3 |pages=379–394 |doi=10.1046/j.1095-8312.2002.00030.x |doi-access=free }}</ref> While the vast majority of cicadas call from above the ground, two Californian species, ''[[Okanagana|Okanagana pallidula]]'' and ''[[Okanagana vanduzeei|O. vanduzeei]]'' are known to call from hollows made at the base of the tree below the ground level. The adaptive significance is unclear, as the calls are not amplified or modified by the [[burrow]] structure, but this may avoid [[predation]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sanborn |first1=Allen |last2=Phillips |first2=Polly |title=No acoustic benefit to subterranean calling in the cicada ''Okanagana pallidula'' Davis (Homoptera: Tibicinidae) |journal=Great Basin Naturalist |date=1995-10-31 |volume=55 |issue=4 |url=https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/gbn/vol55/iss4/12/ }}</ref>

Although only males produce the cicadas' distinctive sounds, both sexes have membranous structures called [[tympanal organ|tympana]] (singular – tympanum) by which they detect sounds, the equivalent of having ears. Males disable their own tympana while calling, thereby preventing damage to their hearing; a necessity partly because some cicadas produce sounds up to 120&nbsp;[[Sound#Sound Pressure Level|dB (SPL)]]<ref name="5050.co.za">{{cite web |date=2 June 2002 |title=Cicada noise |url=http://www.5050.co.za/inserts.asp?ID=3234 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004162419/http://www.5050.co.za/inserts.asp?ID=3234 |archive-date=4 October 2006 |access-date=3 August 2011 |work=50/50 |location=[[New Zealand|NZ]]}}</ref> which is among the loudest of all insect-produced sounds.<ref>{{cite web | last=Craig | first=Owen | publisher=[[ABC Science]] | place=[[Australia]] | date=2001-02-17 | title=Summer of singing cicadas | url=http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2001/02/17/2822486.htm | access-date=23 December 2006}}</ref> The song is loud enough to cause permanent [[hearing loss]] in humans should the cicada be at "close range". In contrast, some small species have songs so high in pitch that they are inaudible to humans.<ref name="insecteducation">{{Cite web|work=Insect education |date=2008-09-09 |title=Arthropoda |url=http://www.insecteducation.com/tag/arthropoda |access-date=2009-09-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713040007/http://www.insecteducation.com/tag/arthropoda |archive-date=13 July 2011 }}</ref>

For the human ear, telling precisely where a cicada song originates is often difficult. The pitch is nearly constant, the sound is continuous to the human ear, and cicadas sing in scattered groups. In addition to the mating song, many species have a distinct distress call, usually a broken and erratic sound emitted by the insect when seized or panicked. Some species also have courtship songs, generally quieter, and produced after a female has been drawn to the calling song. Males also produce encounter calls, whether in courtship or to maintain personal space within choruses.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Villet |first1=Martin H. |last2=Sanborn |first2=Allen F. |last3=Phillips |first3=Polly K. |title=Endothermy and chorusing behaviour in the African platypleurine cicada Pycna semiclara (Germar, 1834) (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) |journal=Canadian Journal of Zoology |date=2003 |volume=81 |issue=8 |pages=1437–1444 |doi=10.1139/z03-119 |bibcode=2003CaJZ...81.1437V }}</ref>

The songs of cicadas are considered by entomologists to be unique to a given species, and a number of resources exist to collect and analyse cicada sounds.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Baker |first1=E. |last2=Price |first2=B. W. |last3 =Rycroft | first3=S. D. | last4= Villet |first4 = M. H. |date=2015 |title=Global Cicada Sound Collection I: Recordings from South Africa and Malawi by B. W. Price & M. H. Villet and harvesting of BioAcoustica data by GBIF |journal=Biodiversity Data Journal |volume=3 |issue=3 |article-number=e5792 |doi=10.3897/BDJ.3.e5792|pmid=26379465 |pmc=4568402 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

===Life cycle===

In some species of cicadas, the males remain in one location and call to attract females. Sometimes, several males aggregate and call in chorus. In other species, the males move from place to place, usually with quieter calls, while searching for females. The Tettigarctidae differ from other cicadas in producing vibrations in the [[Substrate (biology)|substrate]] rather than audible sounds. After mating, the female cuts slits into the bark of a twig where she deposits her eggs.<ref name=Resh/> Both male and female cicadas die within a few weeks after emerging from the soil. Although they have mouthparts and are able to consume some plant liquids for nutrition, the amount eaten is very small and the insects have a natural adult lifespan of less than two months.

When the eggs hatch, the newly hatched [[Nymph (biology)|nymphs]] drop to the ground and burrow. Cicadas live underground as nymphs for most of their lives at depths of about {{Convert|6 - 24|in|cm|abbr=on}}. Nymphs have strong front legs for digging and excavating chambers near to roots, where they feed on [[xylem]] sap. In the process, their bodies and interior of the burrow become coated in anal fluids. In wet habitats, larger species construct mud towers above ground to aerate their burrows. In the final nymphal [[instar]], they construct an exit tunnel to the surface and emerge.<ref name=Resh/> They then [[ecdysis|molt]] (shed their skins) on a nearby plant for the last time, and emerge as adults. The [[exuviae]] or abandoned exoskeletons remain, still clinging to the bark of the tree.<ref name=Grimaldi>{{cite book|author1=Grimaldi, David |author2=Engel, Michael S. |title=Evolution of the Insects |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=odQmAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA308 |year=2005 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-26877-7 |page=308}}</ref>

Most cicadas go through a life cycle that lasts 2–5 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 (Brood XIII), or in some parts of the region, a 13-year (Brood XIX) life cycle<ref name=milman>{{cite news| last=Milman | first=Oliver | title=US braces for cicadas by the trillion as two broods of periodic insects coincide | newspaper=The Observer| date=7 April 2024 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/07/cicada-geddon-brood-season-midwest-eastern}}</ref> The long life cycles may have developed as a response to [[predation|predators]], such as the [[sphecius|cicada killer wasp]] and [[mantis|praying mantis]].<ref>{{Cite book | last=Haga | first=Enoch | chapter=6. Eratosthenes goes bugs! | at=pp. 71–80, fig. 8, table 9 | title=Exploring Prime Numbers on Your PC and the Internet | publisher=Enoch Haga | year=1994–2007 | lccn=2007900755 | isbn=978-1-885794-24-6}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia | last=Haga | first=Enoch | title=Sequence A161664, Safe periods for the emergence of cicada species on prime number cycles | url=https://oeis.org/A161664 | editor-first=NJA | editor-last=Sloane | encyclopedia=The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences | year=2009}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:7petalJade.jpg | format=[[JPEG]] | type=image | title=Scanjet image of 7-petal flower from Jade plant approximately 25 years or more years old in Livermore, California |publisher= Wikimedia | access-date=20 September 2009 }}</ref> A specialist predator with a shorter life cycle of at least two years could not reliably prey upon the cicadas;<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dawkins |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Dawkins |title=The Blind Watchmaker |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |date=1986 |page=[https://archive.org/details/blindwatchmaker0000dawk/page/100 100] |isbn=978-0-393-31570-7 |title-link=The Blind Watchmaker }}</ref> for example, a 17-year cicada with a predator with a five-year life cycle will only be threatened by a peak predator population every 85 (5 × 17) years, while a non-prime cycle such as 15 would be endangered at every year of emergence.<ref name=dijusto>{{citation |last=Di Justo | first=Patrick | title=The Cicada's Love Affair With Prime Numbers | magazine=The New Yorker | date=13 May 2013 | url=https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-cicadas-love-affair-with-prime-numbers}}</ref> An alternate hypothesis is that these long life cycles evolved during the ice ages so as to overcome cold spells, and that as species co-emerged and hybridized, they left distinct species that did not hybridize having periods matching [[prime number]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Yoshimura, J. |year=1997|title= The Evolutionary Origins of Periodical Cicadas During Ice Ages|journal= The American Naturalist|volume= 149|issue=1|pages= 112–124|doi=10.1086/285981|bibcode=1997ANat..149..112Y |s2cid=84915706}}</ref> The 13- and 17-year cicadas only emerge in the midwestern and eastern US in the same year every 221 years (13 × 17), with 2024 being the first such year since 1803.<ref name=milman/>

<gallery>

File:Emerging cicada.jpg|A teneral cicada that has just emerged and is waiting to dry before flying away
File:Cicada Close-Up.jpg|Newly emerged adult cicada held on human fingers
File:Cicada skin.jpg|Cicada exuviae after the adult cicada has left
File:Cicada_exuviae_clinging_to_a_leaf.jpg|alt=An empty cicada skin captured in June 2024 in Rab Croatia|Cicada exuviae clinging to a leaf
File:Cicada on an eastern red cedar tree in Oklahoma.jpg|Cicada clinging to the bark of an [[eastern red cedar]] tree in [[Oklahoma]]
</gallery>

===Diet===
Cicada nymphs drink sap from the xylem of various species of trees, including [[oak]], [[cypress]], [[willow]], [[Fraxinus|ash]], and [[maple]]. While common folklore indicates that adults do not eat, they actually do drink plant sap using their sucking mouthparts.<ref>Elliott, Lang, and Wil Hershberger. (2007). ''The Songs of Insects''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. pp. 184–185. {{ISBN|0618663975}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://insects.about.com/od/truebugs/p/percicadas.htm |title=Periodical Cicadas - Genus Magicicada |access-date=4 June 2011 |archive-date=21 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110921220226/http://insects.about.com/od/truebugs/p/percicadas.htm }}</ref> 

Cicadas excrete fluid in streams of droplets due to their high volume consumption of xylem sap.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cicadamania.com/cicadas/do-cicadas-pee/ | title=Do cicadas pee? | date=28 June 2015 }}</ref> The jets of urine that cicadas produce have a velocity of up to 3 meters per second, making them the fastest among all assessed animals, including mammals like elephants and horses.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/11/science/cicadas-pee-stream.html |title=When Cicadas Emerge, Things Might Get a Little Wet |work=The New York Times |date=11 March 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |author=Challita, E. J., & Bhamla, M. S. |date=2024 |title=Unifying fluidic excretion across life from cicadas to elephants |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=121 |issue=13 |article-number=e2317878121 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2317878121|pmid=38466877 |pmc=10990113 |bibcode=2024PNAS..12117878C }}</ref>

===Locomotion===
{{further|Animal locomotion|Jumping}}

Cicadas, unlike other Auchenorrhyncha, are not adapted for jumping (saltation).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Burrows |first1=M. |title=Jumping mechanisms of treehopper insects (Hemiptera, Auchenorrhyncha, Membracidae) |journal=Journal of Experimental Biology |date=March 2013 |volume= 216|issue=5|pages=788–799 |doi=10.1242/jeb.078741 |pmid=23155084|doi-access=free }}</ref> They have the usual insect modes of [[animal locomotion|locomotion]], walking and flight, but they do not walk or run well, and take to the wing to travel distances greater than a few centimetres.<ref name=Resh/>

==Predators, parasites, and pathogens==
[[File:Eastern cicada killer wasp (Sphecius speciosus) with Cicada.jpg|thumb|upright|Eastern cicada killer wasp (''[[Sphecius speciosus]]'') with cicada prey, United States]]
Cicadas are commonly eaten by birds and mammals,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Marlatt |first1=C. L |title=The periodical cicada |series=Bulletin / U.S. Dept. Of Agriculture, Division of Entomology; no. 14, new ser |date=1898 |page=106 |publisher=U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Division of Entomology |oclc=903871454 |hdl=2027/hvd.32044107249229 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> as well as [[bat]]s, [[wasp]]s, [[mantis]]es, [[spider]]s, and [[Asilidae|robber flies]]. In times of mass emergence of cicadas, various amphibians, fish, reptiles, mammals, and birds change their foraging habits so as to benefit from the glut. Newly hatched nymphs may be eaten by ants, and nymphs living underground are preyed on by burrowing mammals such as moles.<ref name=Capinera>{{cite book|author=Capinera, John L. |title=Encyclopedia of Entomology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i9ITMiiohVQC&pg=PA876|year=2008 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-1-4020-6242-1 |page=876}}</ref> In northern Japan, brown bears prey on final instar nymphs of cicadas during summer by digging up the ground.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Tomita |first1=Kanji |last2=Hiura |first2=Tsutom |date=2020 |title=Brown bear digging for cicada nymphs: a novel interaction in a forest ecosystem |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ecy.2899 |journal=Ecology |language=en |volume=101 |issue=3 |pages=e02899 |doi=10.1002/ecy.2899 |pmid=31544228 |bibcode=2020Ecol..101E2899T |hdl=2115/86161 |s2cid=202732839 |issn=1939-9170|hdl-access=free |url-access=subscription }}</ref> In Australia, cicadas are preyed on by the Australian cicada killer wasp (''[[Exeirus lateritius]]''), which stings and stuns cicadas high in the trees, making them drop to the ground, where the cicada hunter mounts and carries them, pushing with its hind legs, sometimes over a distance of 100 m, until they can be shoved down into its burrow, where the numb cicadas are placed onto one of many shelves in a "catacomb", to form the food stock for the wasp grub that grows out of the egg deposited there.<ref>{{Cite book | last=Tillyard | first=R. J. | title=The Insects of Australia and New Zealand | place=Sydney | publisher=Angus & Robertson |year=1926 | pages=298–299}}</ref> A [[Tettigoniidae|katydid]] predator from Australia is capable of attracting singing male cicadas of a variety of species by imitating the timed click replies of sexually receptive female cicadas, which respond in pair formation by flicking their wings.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Marshall |first1=David C. |last2=Hill |first2=Kathy B. R. |title=Versatile Aggressive Mimicry of Cicadas by an Australian Predatory Katydid |journal=PLOS ONE |date=2009-01-14 |volume=4 |issue=1 |article-number=e4185 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0004185 |pmid=19142230 |pmc=2615208 |bibcode=2009PLoSO...4.4185M |doi-access=free }}</ref> Their prime-number life cycle prevents predators with a life cycle of two or more years from synchronising with their emergence.<ref name=dijusto/>

Several fungal diseases infect and kill adult cicadas, while other [[entomopathogenic fungus|fungi]] in the genera ''[[Ophiocordyceps]]'' and ''[[Isaria]]'' attack nymphs.<ref name=Capinera/> ''[[Massospora cicadina]]'' specifically attacks the adults of periodical cicadas, the spores remaining dormant in the soil between outbreaks.<ref name="Massospora">{{cite journal | title= ''Massospora cicadina'' Peck: A Fungous Parasite of the Periodical Cicada| first1= A. T. | last1= Speare | journal= Mycologia | volume= 13 | issue= 2 | year=1921 | pages= 72–82 | doi= 10.2307/3753297| jstor= 3753297 }}</ref> This fungus is also capable of dosing cicadas with [[psilocybin]], the [[psychedelic drug]] found in [[magic mushrooms]], as well as [[cathinone]], an [[alkaloid]] similar to various [[amphetamines]]. These chemicals alter the behaviour of the cicadas, driving males to copulate, including attempts with males, and is thought to be beneficial to the fungus, as the fungal spores are dispersed by a larger number of infected carriers.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Boyce|first1=Greg R.|last2=Gluck-Thaler|first2=Emile|last3=Slot|first3=Jason C.|last4=Stajich|first4=Jason E.|last5=Davis|first5=William J.|last6=James|first6=Tim Y.|last7=Cooley|first7=John R.|last8=Panaccione|first8=Daniel G.|last9=Eilenberg|first9=Jørgen|date=2019|title=Psychoactive plant- and mushroom-associated alkaloids from two behavior modifying cicada pathogens|journal=Fungal Ecology|language=en|volume=41|pages=147–164|doi=10.1016/j.funeco.2019.06.002|pmid=31768192|pmc=6876628|doi-access=free|bibcode=2019FunE...41..147B }}</ref>

Plants can also defend themselves against cicadas. Although cicadas can feed on the roots of gymnosperms, it has been found that resinous conifers such as pine do not allow the eggs of ''Magicicada'' to hatch, the resin sealing up the egg cavities.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Lloyd|first1=Monte|last2=White|first2=JoAnn|date=1987|title=Xylem Feeding by Periodical Cicada Nymphs on Pine and Grass Roots, With Novel Suggestions for Pest Control in Conifer Plantations and Orchards|url=https://kb.osu.edu/handle/1811/23194|journal=Ohio Journal of Science|language=en-US|volume=87|issue=3|pages=50–54|hdl=1811/23194|issn=0030-0950}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=White|first1=Joann|last2=Lloyd|first2=Monte|last3=Karban|first3=Richard|date=1982|title=Why Don't Periodical Cicadas 1 Normally Live in Coniferous Forests?|url=https://academic.oup.com/ee/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/ee/11.2.475|journal=Environmental Entomology|language=en|volume=11|issue=2|pages=475–482|doi=10.1093/ee/11.2.475|issn=1938-2936|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

===Antipredator adaptations===
{{further|Antipredator adaptation|Periodical cicada}}
[[File:Cicada camouflaged on an olive tree.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Cicada [[Disruptive coloration|disruptively camouflaged]] on an olive tree]]

Cicadas use a variety of strategies to evade predators. Large cicadas can fly rapidly to escape if disturbed.<ref name=WashPost>{{cite web |last1=Brown |first1=David |date=4 May 2004 |title=Cicadas' bizarre survival strategy |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna4893167 |agency=[[The Washington Post]] |work=[[NBC News]] |access-date=24 August 2015}}</ref> Many are extremely well [[camouflage]]d<ref name=WashPost/><ref>{{cite news |title=Animals disappear using camouflage |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/earth/3247746/Animals-disappear-using-camouflage.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/earth/3247746/Animals-disappear-using-camouflage.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |newspaper=The Telegraph |access-date=24 August 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref> to evade predators such as birds that hunt by sight. Being coloured like tree bark and [[Disruptive coloration|disruptively patterned]] to break up their outlines, they are difficult to discern;<ref>{{cite web |last1=Goldman |first1=Jason G. |title=1-Trick Chameleon: Predators Learn to See Through Camouflage |date=25 October 2013 |url=http://nautil.us/blog/1_trick-chameleon-predators-learn-to-see-through-camouflage |publisher=Nautilus |access-date=24 August 2015}}</ref> their partly transparent wings are held over the body and pressed close to the substrate<!--, concealing the insect's shadow and further destroying its outline-->. Some cicada species [[thanatosis|play dead]] when threatened.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.masscic.org/cicadas101/adult-cicada-defenses |title=Adult Cicada Defenses |work=Massachusetts Cicadas |access-date=5 September 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://bugguide.net/node/view/671603 |title=Subspecies Neotibicen lyricen lyricen – Lyric Cicada ("ssp. lyricen var. lyricen") |publisher=BugGuide.Net |access-date=5 September 2017}}</ref>
<!-- already mentioned twice
The periodical cicadas (''Magicicada'') make use of [[predator satiation]]: they emerge, all at once, at long intervals of 13 or 17 years; their juveniles are probably the longest-lived of all insect development stages.<ref name=WilliamsSimon/> Since the cicadas in any given area exceeds the number predators can eat, all available predators are sated, and the remaining cicadas can breed in peace.<ref name=WashPost/><ref name=WilliamsSimon/>
 -->
[[File:Huechys sanguinea 03.JPG|thumb|The day-flying cicada ''[[Huechys sanguinea]]'' warns off predators with its [[aposematic]] red and black coloration. (Southeast Asia)]]

Some cicadas such as ''[[Hemisciera maculipennis]]'' display bright [[deimatic]] flash coloration on their hind wings when threatened; the sudden contrast helps to startle predators, giving the cicadas time to escape.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cott |first1=Hugh B. |title=Adaptive Coloration in Animals |url=https://archive.org/details/adaptivecolorati00cott |date=1940 |publisher=Methuen |pages=[https://archive.org/details/adaptivecolorati00cott/page/375 375–376]}}</ref> Most cicadas are [[Diurnality|diurnal]] and rely on camouflage when at rest, but some species use [[aposematism]]-related [[Batesian mimicry]], wearing the bright colors that warn of toxicity in other animals; the Malaysian ''[[Huechys sanguinea]]'' has conspicuous red and black warning coloration, is diurnal, and boldly flies about in full view of possible predators.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cott |first1=Hugh B. |title=Adaptive Coloration in Animals |url=https://archive.org/details/adaptivecolorati00cott |year=1940 |publisher=Methuen |page=[https://archive.org/details/adaptivecolorati00cott/page/203 203]}}</ref>

Predators such as the [[Sarcophagidae|sarcophagid]] fly ''[[Emblemasoma]]'' hunt cicadas by sound, being attracted to their songs.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zuk |first1=Marlene |last2=Kolluru |first2=Gita R. |title=Exploitation of Sexual Signals by Predators and Parasitoids |journal=Quarterly Review of Biology |date=December 1998 |volume=73 |issue=4 |pages=415–438 |url=http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1118&context=bio_fac |doi=10.1086/420412|s2cid=19287833 }}</ref> Singing males soften their song so that the attention of the listener gets distracted to neighbouring louder singers, or cease singing altogether as a predator approaches. A loud cicada song, especially in chorus, has been asserted to repel predators, but observations of predator responses refute the claim.<ref name=WilliamsSimon>{{cite journal |last1=Williams |first1=Kathy S. |last2=Simon |first2=Chris |title=The Ecology, Behavior, And Evolution of Periodical Cicadas |journal=Annual Review of Entomology |date=1995 |volume=40 |pages=269–295 |url=http://hydrodictyon.eeb.uconn.edu/projects/cicada/resources/reprints/Williams%26Simon_1995.pdf |doi=10.1146/annurev.ento.40.1.269 |access-date=24 August 2015 |archive-date=29 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100729063931/http://hydrodictyon.eeb.uconn.edu/projects/cicada/resources/reprints/Williams%26Simon_1995.pdf }}</ref>

== In human culture ==
{{further|Insects in culture}}

=== In art and literature ===
[[File:Schreibzeug (Nürnberg).jpg|thumb|Silver casket with writing utensils, made by the [[Nuremberg]] goldsmith [[Wenzel Jamnitzer]] (1507/08–1585): a silver cicada is at lower left.]]
[[File:Japanese snuff bottle in the form of a cicada 01A.jpg|thumb|Japanese [[snuff (tobacco)|snuff]] bottle in the form of a cicada, ''c.'' 1900]]

Cicadas have been featured in literature since the time of Homer's ''Iliad'', and as motifs in decorative art from the Chinese Shang dynasty (1766–1122 BCE).{{efn|See for instance the [[nephrite]] cicada from the Han dynasty (''c.'' 210 BCE) in the San Francisco Asian Art Museum.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cicada|url=http://education.asianart.org/explore-resources/artwork/cicada|publisher=Asian Art Museum|access-date=25 August 2015|archive-date=5 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151005163824/http://education.asianart.org/explore-resources/artwork/cicada}}</ref>}} They are described by [[Aristotle]] in his ''[[History of Animals]]'' and by [[Pliny the Elder]] in his ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]''; their mechanism of sound production is mentioned by [[Hesiod]] in his poem "[[Works and Days]]": "when the [[Scolymus|Skolymus]] flowers, and the tuneful ''Tettix'' sitting on his tree in the weary summer season pours forth from under his wings his shrill song".<ref>{{cite book | author=Myers, J. G. |title=Insect Singers | publisher=G. Routledge and Sons| year=1929 |url=http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/walker/buzz/c700lm29sec01.pdf}}</ref> In the classic 14th-century Chinese novel ''[[Romance of the Three Kingdoms]]'', [[Diaochan]] took her name from the sable (''diāo'') tails and jade decorations in the shape of cicadas (''chán''), which adorned the hats of high-level officials.

In the Japanese novel ''[[The Tale of Genji]]'', the title character poetically likens one of his many love interests to a cicada for the way she delicately sheds her robe the way a cicada sheds its shell when molting. Cicada exuviae play a role in the [[manga]] ''[[Winter Cicada]]''. Cicadas are a frequent subject of ''[[haiku]]'', where, depending on type, they can indicate spring, summer, or autumn.<ref name="haiku_semi">{{Cite web | publisher=University of Virginia | url=http://hatbox.lib.virginia.edu/servlet/SaxonServlet?source=http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/japanese/haiku/HigHaik.xml&style=http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/japanese/haiku/long.xsl&clear-stylesheet-cache=yes&entryid=semi | archive-url=https://archive.today/20121212110250/http://hatbox.lib.virginia.edu/servlet/SaxonServlet?source=http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/japanese/haiku/HigHaik.xml&style=http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/japanese/haiku/long.xsl&clear-stylesheet-cache=yes&entryid=semi | archive-date=2012-12-12 | work=Haiku topical dictionary | title=Cicadas}}.</ref> [[Shaun Tan]]'s illustrated book ''Cicada'' tells the story of a hardworking but underappreciated cicada working in an office.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.arthuralevinebooks.com/cicada|title=Cicada|website=Arthur A. Levine Books|language=en-US|access-date=2019-02-20|archive-date=20 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220235939/https://www.arthuralevinebooks.com/cicada}}</ref> [[Branden Jacobs-Jenkins]]'s play ''[[Appropriate (play)|Appropriate]]'' takes place on an Arkansas farm in summer, and calls for the sounds of mating cicadas to underscore the entire show.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jacobs-Jenkins|first=Branden|url=https://www.dramatists.com/cgi-bin/db/single.asp?key=5011|title=Appropriate|publisher=Dramatists Play Service|year=2016|isbn=978-0-8222-3191-2|location=New York|pages=1–116}}</ref>

=== In fashion ===
Being lightweight, and with hooklike legs, the [[exuviae]] of cicadas can be used as hair or clothing accessories.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lacarmina.com/blog/2008/08/cicada-shell-hair-accessories-on-shokotan-japanese-idol-actress-blogger/|title=CICADA SHELL HAIR ACCESSORIES ON SHOKOTAN, JAPANESE IDOL ACTRESS BLOGGER. &#124; La Carmina Blog – Alternative Fashion, Goth Travel, Subcultures|website=Lacarmina.com|date=28 August 2008|access-date=10 June 2022}}</ref>

=== As food and folk medicine ===
[[file:deepfried cicada.jpg|thumb|Deep-fried ''Cryptotympana atrata'' in [[Shandong cuisine]]]]
Cicadas were eaten in [[Ancient Greece]], and are consumed in selected regions in modern [[China]], both as adults and (more often) as nymphs.<ref name="Simoons1990">{{cite book |last=Simoons |first=Frederick J. |title=Food in China: A Cultural and Historical Inquiry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fo087ZxohA4C&pg=PA334 |date= 1990 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-0-8493-8804-0 |page=334}}</ref> Cicadas are also eaten in [[Malaysia]], [[Burma]], North America, and central Africa, as well as the [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]] region of [[Pakistan]], especially in [[Ziarat]].<ref>{{Citation|title=Taazan – Cicada – How to Cook ? – Ziarat |location=Balochistan, Pakistan|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPMlpOqsZiM| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/xPMlpOqsZiM| archive-date=2021-12-11 | url-status=live|website=YouTube.com|date=2 August 2019 |language=ur|access-date=2019-08-25}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Female cicadas are prized for being meatier.<ref name= "insecteducation" /> Shells of cicadas are employed in [[traditional Chinese medicine]]s,<ref>[[Li Shizhen]], [[Bencao Gangmu]], Section of Insect. 李时珍, 本草纲目, 虫部</ref> claiming that they possess anti-convulsive, sedative, and hypothermic effects.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hsieh |first1=M.T. |last2=Peng |first2=W.H. |last3=Yeh |first3=F.T. |last4=Tsai |first4=H.Y. |last5=Chang |first5=Y.S. |date=July 11, 1991 |title=Studies on the anticonvulsive, sedative and hypothermic effects of Periostracum Cicadae extracts |journal=Journal of Ethnopharmacology |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=83–90 |doi=10.1016/0378-8741(91)90136-2 |pmid=1753798 |via=Science Direct}}</ref> The 17-year "Onondaga Brood"<ref>{{cite web |title=Brood VII: The Onondaga Brood |url=http://magicicada.org/magicicada/brood_07/ |website=Periodical Cicadas |access-date=1 June 2018 |archive-date=30 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130074057/http://magicicada.org/magicicada/brood_07/ }}</ref> ''Magicicada'' is culturally important and a particular delicacy to the [[Onondaga people]],<ref>{{cite web |author=Dehowähda•dih |title=Ogweñ•yó'da' déñ'se' Hanadagá•yas: The Cicada and George Washington |url=http://www.onondaganation.org/blog/2018/ogwen%E2%80%A2yoda-dense-hanadaga%E2%80%A2yas-the-cicada-and-george-washington/ |website=Onondaga Nation Website |date=14 May 2018 |access-date=1 June 2018}}</ref> and are considered a novelty food item by modern consumers in several states.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cicadas-brood-x-eating-food-delicacy/|title=The cicadas are coming — and foodies are getting ready to feast|website=[[CBS News]]|date=25 May 2021 }}</ref>

=== In music ===
Cicadas are featured in the protest song "Como La Cigarra" ("Like the Cicada") written by Argentinian poet and composer [[María Elena Walsh]]. In the song, the cicada is a symbol of survival and defiance against death. The song was recorded by [[Mercedes Sosa]], among other Latin American musicians.

In North America and Mexico, there is a well-known song, "{{lang|es|La Cigarra}}" ("The Cicada"), written by [[:es:Raymundo Pérez y Soto|Raymundo Perez Soto]], which is a song in the [[Mariachi]] tradition, that romanticises the insect as a creature that sings until it dies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lyricstranslate.com/en/la-cigarra-cicada.html-3|title=La Cigarra / The Cicada|publisher=Lyrics Translate|access-date=24 August 2015}}</ref>

Brazilian artist [[Lenine (musician)|Lenine]] with his track "Malvadeza" from the album ''Chão'', creates a song built upon the sound of the cicada that can be heard along the track.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.letras.com.br/lenine/malvadeza|title=Malvadeza|publisher=Letras|access-date=4 November 2019}}</ref>

Cicada sounds heavily feature on the 2021 album ''[[Solar Power (album)|Solar Power]]'' by New Zealand artist [[Lorde]]. She described cicada song as being emblematic of the New Zealand summer.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lorde samples cicada sounds on Solar Power|url=https://uk.style.yahoo.com/lorde-samples-cicada-sounds-solar-120842330.html|access-date=2021-09-30|website=Uk.style.yahoo.com|date=11 August 2021 |language=en-GB}}</ref>

=== In mythology and folklore ===
{{main|Cicada (mythology)}}
[[File:Jade cicada amulets. Western Han Dynasty 206 BCE - CE 8.jpg|thumb|Jade cicada amulets. Western Han Dynasty 206 BCE – CE 8]]
Cicadas have been used as money, in folk medicine, to forecast the weather, to provide song (in China), and in folklore and myths around the world.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Cicada |url=https://www.britannica.com/animal/cicada |encyclopedia=Britannica |access-date=12 July 2015}}</ref> In France, the cicada represents the [[folklore]] of [[Provence]] and the Mediterranean cities.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.notreprovence.fr/faune_cigale.html | publisher= Notre Provence | location=[[France|FR]] | title= La cigale, emblème de la Provence | language=fr | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090315081430/http://www.notreprovence.fr/faune_cigale.html |archive-date=15 March 2009}}</ref>

The cicada has represented {{linktext|insouciance}} since [[classical antiquity]]. [[Jean de La Fontaine]] began his collection of fables ''Les fables de La Fontaine'' with the story "La Cigale et la Fourmi" ("The Cicada and the Ant") based on one of [[Aesop]]'s fables; in it, the cicada spends the summer singing, while the ant stores away food, and the cicada finds herself without food when the weather turns bitter.<ref>{{cite web |last=Chevrier |first=Irène |title=La Fontaine, fabuleusement inspiré par Esope – Un autre regard sur la Grèce |date=24 April 2007 |language=fr |url=http://www.la-grece.com/dotclear/index.php?2007/04/24/259-la-fontaine-fabuleusement-inspire-par-esope |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081228053146/http://www.la-grece.com/dotclear/index.php?2007%2F04%2F24%2F259-la-fontaine-fabuleusement-inspire-par-esope |archive-date=28 December 2008 }}</ref>

In Chinese tradition, the cicada ({{lang|zh|蟬}}, ''chán'') symbolises rebirth and immortality.<ref name=Riegel>{{cite web |last1=Riegel |first1=Garland |title=Cicada in Chinese Folklore (with bibliography) |url=http://www.insects.org/ced3/cicada_chfolk.html |publisher=Insects.org |access-date=24 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905142946/http://www.insects.org/ced3/cicada_chfolk.html |archive-date=5 September 2015 }}</ref> In the Chinese essay "[[Thirty-Six Stratagems]]", the phrase "to shed the golden cicada skin" ({{zh|s=金蝉脱壳|t=金蟬脫殼|p=jīnchán tuōqiào}}) is the poetic name for using a decoy (leaving the exuviae) to fool enemies.<ref>{{cite web|title=Thirty-Six Strategies|url=http://wengu.tartarie.com/wg/wengu.php?l=36ji&no=21|publisher=Wengu|access-date=31 January 2016}}</ref> In the Chinese classic novel ''[[Journey to the West]]'' (16th century), the protagonist Priest of Tang was named the Golden Cicada.<ref>{{cite book |editor=Yu, Anthony C. Yu (trans.) |title=The Journey to the West |volume=I |publisher=University of Chicago Press |date=1977 |page=14}}</ref>

In Japan, the cicada is associated with the summer season.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Cicadas' Song: Japan's Summer Soundtrack |date=12 September 2014 |url=http://www.tofugu.com/2014/09/12/the-cicadas-song-japans-summer-soundtrack/ |access-date=24 August 2015}}</ref> For many Japanese people, summer hasn't officially begun until the first songs of the cicada are heard.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.japan-experience.com/to-know/understanding-japan/cicadas |title=Cicadas |date=31 May 2017 |website=Japan Experience |access-date=11 November 2018}}</ref> According to [[Lafcadio Hearn]], the song of ''[[Meimuna opalifera]]'', called ''tsuku-tsuku boshi'', is said to indicate the end of summer, and it is called so because of its particular call.<ref name="Hearn2007">{{cite book |last=Hearn |first=Lafcadio |title=Shadowings |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DgvC9wIA9O4C&pg=PA85 |year=2007 |publisher=Cosimo |isbn=978-1-60206-066-1 |page=85}}</ref>

In the [[Homeric Hymns|Homeric ''Hymn to Aphrodite'']], the goddess [[Aphrodite]] retells the legend of how [[Eos]], the goddess of the dawn, requested [[Zeus]] to let her lover [[Tithonus]] live forever as an [[Immortality|immortal]].<ref name="DuBois">{{cite book|last1=DuBois|first1=Page|title=Out of Athens: The New Ancient Greeks|date=2010|publisher=Harvard University Press|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|isbn=978-0-674-03558-4|pages=51–53|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VkIkmvHP30kC&q=cicada%20of%20Athens&pg=PA53}}</ref> Zeus granted her request, but because Eos forgot to ask him to also make Tithonus ageless, Tithonus never died, but he did grow old.<ref name="DuBois"/> Eventually, he became so tiny and shriveled that he turned into the first cicada.<ref name="DuBois"/> The Greeks also used a cicada sitting on a harp as an emblem of music.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16435670 |title=The Cicada|newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |date=21 January 1928 |access-date=7 June 2013 |page=21 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

In Kapampangan mythology in the [[Philippines]], the goddess of dusk, Sisilim, is said to be greeted by the sounds and appearances of cicadas whenever she appears.<ref name="auto17"/>

===As pests===
Cicadas feed on [[sap]]; they do not [[bite]] or [[stinger|sting]] in a true sense, but may occasionally mistake a person's arm for a plant limb and attempt to feed.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cicadamania.com/cicadas/do-cicadas-bite-or-sting/ |title=Do cicadas bite or sting? |date=28 June 2008 |publisher=Cicada Mania |access-date=15 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180611154219/http://www.cicadamania.com/cicadas/do-cicadas-bite-or-sting/ |archive-date=11 June 2018 }}.</ref> Male cicadas produce very loud calls that can damage human hearing.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cicadas &#124; National Geographic |website=[[National Geographic Society]] |date=10 May 2011 |url=http://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/group/cicadas/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620085916/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/group/cicadas/ |archive-date=20 June 2017 |access-date =15 July 2017}}</ref>

Cicadas are not major agricultural pests, but in some outbreak years, trees may be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of females laying their eggs in the shoots. Small trees may wilt and larger trees may lose small branches.<ref name=Capinera/> Although in general, the feeding activities of the nymphs do little damage, during the year before an outbreak of periodic cicadas, the large nymphs feed heavily and plant growth may suffer.<ref name=Yang>{{Cite journal |last=Yang |first=Louie H. |year=2004 |title=Periodical cicadas as resource pulses in North American forests |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=306 |issue=5701 |pages=1565–1567 |doi=10.1126/science.1103114 |pmid=15567865|bibcode = 2004Sci...306.1565Y |s2cid=27088981 }}</ref> Some species have turned from wild grasses to [[sugarcane]], which affects the crop adversely, and in a few isolated cases, females have oviposited on [[cash crop]]s such as [[date palm]]s, [[grape]] vines, [[citrus]] trees, [[asparagus]], and [[cotton]].<ref name=Capinera/>

Cicadas sometimes cause damage to ornamental shrubs and trees, mainly in the form of scarring left on tree branches where the females have laid their eggs. Branches of young trees may die as a result.<ref>{{cite news | date=9 September 1895 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1895/09/09/archives/great-damage-from-insects-they-are-doing-more-destruction-to-crops.html | title=Great Damage from Insects; They Are Doing More Destruction to Crops This Year than Usual | newspaper=The New York Times |page=6}}.</ref><ref name=OhioCultivator>{{cite journal |title=Restoring Fertility in Exhausted Wheat Lands – Use of Marlin Ohio, &c. |journal=Ohio Cultivator |date=1847 |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=3–4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7HEr8tU414YC&pg=PA3 }}</ref>{{failed verification|date=April 2021|reason=There doesn't seem to be anything here about cicadas, trees or shrubs.}}

==See also==
* [[Cicada 3301]]
* [[List of Cicadidae genera]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=auto17>
{{Cite web| url = https://www.aswangproject.com/formation-of-the-world-kapampangan-mythology/
| title = Formation of the World, Kapampangan Mythology
| website = Aswang Project
| date = 12 September 2017
}}</ref>
}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last=Clausen |first=Lucy W. |date=1954 |title=Insect Fact and Folklore |publisher=Macmillan|oclc= |isbn= }} {{ISBN?}}
* {{cite web |author=Egan, Rory B. |date=1994 |url=http://www.bugbios.com/ced3/cicada_ancgrcult.html |title=Cicada in Ancient Greece |access-date=28 December 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061110080531/http://www.bugbios.com/ced3/cicada_ancgrcult.html |archive-date=10 November 2006 }}
* {{cite journal | last1=Hoppensteadt | first1=Frank C | first2=Joseph B | last2=Keller | year=1976 | title=Synchronization of periodical cicada emergences | url=http://www.math.pitt.edu/~bard/classes/mth3380/cicada_hi.pdf | journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] | volume=194 | issue=4262 | pages=335–337 | bibcode=1976Sci...194..335H | doi=10.1126/science.987617 | pmid=987617 | access-date=3 August 2011 | archive-date=9 November 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161109010853/http://www.math.pitt.edu/~bard/classes/mth3380/cicada_hi.pdf }}
* {{cite web |last=Main |first=Douglas |title=Trillions of cicadas are coming to the U.S. Here's why that's a good thing. |date=3 May 2021 |website=National Geographic |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/brood-x-cicadas-actually-good-fear-not|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503173228/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/brood-x-cicadas-actually-good-fear-not|archive-date=3 May 2021}}
* {{cite book | last=Myers |first=JG | year=1929 | title=Insect Singers: A Natural History of the Cicadas | publisher=Routledge|oclc= }}{{ISBN?}}
* {{cite web | last=Ramel | first=Gordon | year=2005 | title=The Singing Cicadas | url=http://www.earthlife.net/insects/cicadidae.html | access-date=31 January 2007 | publisher=Earth Life}}
* {{cite book | last=Riegel | first=Garland | title=Cicada in Chinese Folklore | series=Melsheimer Entomological Series | issue=3rd | year=1994 | publisher=Bug bios | url=http://www.bugbios.com/ced3/cicada_chfolk.html | access-date=28 December 2006 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061110080636/http://www.bugbios.com/ced3/cicada_chfolk.html | archive-date=10 November 2006 }}
* {{cite book | last=Walker | first=Annette | title=The Reed Handbook of Common New Zealand Insects | publisher=Reed | year=2000 | isbn=978-0-7900-0718-2}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Cicadoidea}}
{{Wikispecies|cicadidae}}
{{wiktionary}}
* [https://www.cicadamania.com/ Cicada Mania] – Website dedicated to cicadas, the most amazing insects in the world
* [http://www.masscic.org/ ''Massachusetts Cicadas''] describes behavior, sightings, photos, how to find guide, videos, periodical and annual cicada species information and distribution maps
* [https://cicadas.uconn.edu/ Cicadas.uconn.edu/ Brood mapping project] – solicits records and observations from the general public
* [http://www.insectsingers.com/100th_meridian_cicadas/index.html Song recordings and information of cicadas of the United States and Canada]
* [https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/bugs/cicadas.htm Cicadas of Florida, ''Neocicada hieroglyphica'', ''Tibicen'', ''Diceroprocta'' and ''Melampsalta'' spp.] at [[University of Florida]]/[[Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences|IFAS]] ''Featured Creatures''
* [http://inside.msj.edu/academics/faculty/kritskg/cicada/Site/Cicada_home.html Greater Cincinnati Cicada Information & Teaching Resources] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130416023248/http://inside.msj.edu/academics/faculty/kritskg/cicada/Site/Cicada_home.html |date=16 April 2013 }} – College of Mt Saint Joseph Cicada Information Site
* [https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/specialcollections/digital/metcalf/index.html DrMetcalf: a resource on cicadas, leafhoppers, planthoppers, spittlebugs, and treehoppers]

{{Hemiptera|1}}
{{Insects in culture}}
{{Cicada Broods}}
{{Meat}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1947892}}

[[Category:Cicadas| ]]
[[Category:Cicadomorpha]]
[[Category:Edible insects]]
[[Category:Insects in culture]]
[[Category:Extant Late Triassic first appearances]]