Last night I watched an episode of Planet Earth, about seasonal forests. It was so great. There was a section about cicadas that was amazing. The female deposits eggs into a slit in a twig, and when they hatch the babies (nymphs) drop to the ground, and then burrow into the soil. After waiting in the ground for seventeen years (!) feeding from the juice of tree roots, they finally burrow to the surface and moult on a nearby plant, where they then start the next phase of their life. What an amazing creation.
E and I were wondering why we heard them every year, if they only come out every seventeen. I discovered this morning that this is the case with European species, but not Australian ones. Apparently, we have about 220 different species of cicada in Australia, and one of them, the Cyclochila Australasiae or 'Green Grocer' is one of the loudest insects in the world!
E and I were wondering why we heard them every year, if they only come out every seventeen. I discovered this morning that this is the case with European species, but not Australian ones. Apparently, we have about 220 different species of cicada in Australia, and one of them, the Cyclochila Australasiae or 'Green Grocer' is one of the loudest insects in the world!
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