Cicadas, with their loud buzzing and periodic appearances, often spark curiosity about their behavior and capabilities. A common question that arises is: Do Cicadas Fly? The answer is yes, cicadas are indeed capable of flight. This aerial ability is crucial to their adult life cycle, enabling them to find mates, suitable habitats, and continue their fascinating life journey.
The Development of Cicada Wings and Flight
Upon emerging from the soil, cicadas undergo a transformative process. After spending years underground as nymphs, feeding on root fluids, they surface when the soil temperature reaches around 64 degrees Fahrenheit at a depth of 12 to 18 inches. Male cicadas typically emerge first, followed by females within a few days. One of the first actions of a newly emerged cicada is to shed its nymphal skin. This process reveals a soft, pale adult form. As the cicada matures, its exoskeleton hardens and its wings develop fully. These newly formed wings are essential for flight, allowing cicadas to move beyond their immediate emergence location.
The ability to fly is vital for adult cicadas. It allows them to locate hardwood trees and shrubs, which serve as both feeding and mating grounds. Male cicadas, known for their distinctive songs, use flight to move to locations where they can attract females. The sound-producing organ, called a tymbal, is located near the wing base on the male cicada’s body. Flight also enables females to find suitable branches on trees and shrubs to lay their eggs.
Cicada Flight Behavior and Predation
While cicadas possess wings and can fly, their flight behavior isn’t always about escaping predators. Interestingly, cicadas do not exhibit a strong instinct to fly away when approached by potential threats, including humans. This lack of evasive flight might contribute to why they sometimes appear unafraid of people.
However, flight is essential for other aspects of their life cycle. After mating on trees or shrubs, female cicadas use their ovipositor, a sharp, pointed organ, to lay eggs into branches. Once hatched, the young cicada nymphs chew their way out of the branch tips, causing these tips to fall to the ground. This descent brings the newly hatched nymphs back to the soil, where they burrow underground to begin the next phase of their 13 or 17-year life cycle. Therefore, flight is indirectly linked to the dispersal of the next generation of cicadas.
The Role of Flight in the Cicada Life Cycle
In summary, flight is an integral part of the adult cicada’s life. It facilitates crucial activities such as finding food sources, attracting mates, and laying eggs in appropriate locations. Although cicadas may not use flight primarily as a defense mechanism against predators, their ability to fly is indispensable for their survival and propagation. Understanding that cicadas do fly helps appreciate their complex life cycle and the role they play in the ecosystem, even amidst human development and environmental changes.
