Cicadas, the mysterious insects that spend most of their lives underground, have a surprising diet that involves extracting fluids from nearby plants. Their unique feeding behavior plays a crucial role in the ecosystem.
What Do Cicadas Eat?
Cicadas have a surprising diet that is different from other insects like grasshoppers, which chew their food. Instead, cicadas use specialized sucking mouthparts to extract fluids from nearby plants.
Cicadas are large, winged insects that belong to the order Hemiptera.
There are over 3,000 known species of cicadas, with some living up to 17 years underground before emerging in massive broods.
Cicadas have a unique life cycle, spending most of their lives as nymphs, feeding on plant roots and growing in size.
Adult cicadas emerge, mate, and lay eggs, after which they die.
Cicadas are known for their distinctive sound, produced by males to attract females.
Cicada Nymphs and Plant Roots
Before becoming loud, buzzing adults, cicadas spend the majority of their lives underground burrowing among plant roots. The young nymphs use their sucking mouthparts to tap into tree roots, drawing out nutrients to grow and develop. This stage can last anywhere from a few years for annual cicadas to 13 or 17 years for periodical cicadas.
Adult Cicadas and Plant Sap
Once cicadas emerge from the ground, their primary goal is to attract mates and reproduce, not to feast. Adult cicadas feed on plant sap by inserting their mouthparts into young twigs and small branches of trees and woody shrubs. However, they don’t consume much food, as their adult stage is short-lived, usually only lasting a few weeks to a month.
Adult cicadas are large, winged insects that undergo a unique life cycle.
They spend most of their lives underground as nymphs, feeding on plant roots.
When mature, they emerge in massive numbers, often by the millions, to mate and reproduce.
Adult cicadas have large eyes, transparent wings, and a distinctive song produced by males using their tymbals.
Cicadas are found worldwide, with species varying in size, color, and behavior.
They play an important ecological role, serving as both predators and prey for other animals.
The Impact of Cicadas on Plants
While cicadas bite trees, they don’t bite humans or animals. Unlike many insects, cicadas do not damage crops or plants significantly, though they can cause some cosmetic damage to newly planted trees when female cicadas lay eggs in tree branches. Cicadas are not major plant pests, but their egg-laying behavior can harm young trees.
The Ecological Role of Cicadas
Cicadas provide food for many species, including birds, cicada killers (large wasps that hunt them), and other predators. When millions of adult periodical cicadas emerge at once, they overwhelm their predators, ensuring that enough survive to reproduce. Cicadas play an important role in the ecosystem by aerating the soil when they emerge.
Cicadas play a crucial ecological role in many ecosystems.
They are primary consumers, feeding on plant sap and contributing to nutrient cycling.
Some species of cicadas are important pollinators, transferring pollen between plants as they feed.
Cicadas also serve as a food source for various animals, including birds, bats, and spiders.
Additionally, their loud singing is believed to attract mates but may also deter predators with the noise.
This complex behavior highlights their importance in maintaining ecological balance.
The Fascinating World of Cicadas
Cicada mating calls are the loudest of any insect, and among the loudest in the animal kingdom. At close distances, cicada calls have been measured in excess of 105 decibels, comparable to noises like motorcycle engines and power tools at close range.
- howstuffworks.com | What Do Cicadas Eat? Depends How Old They Are
