page_title: Periodical cicadas
section_title: Lifecycle
hierarchical_section_title: Periodical cicadas / Lifecycle
context_page_description: Magicicada is the genus of the 13-year and 17-year periodical cicadas of eastern North America, consisting of seven species. Although they are sometimes called "locusts", this is a misnomer, as cicadas belong to the taxonomic order Hemiptera, suborder Auchenorrhyncha, while locusts are grasshoppers belonging to the order Orthoptera. Magicicada belongs to the cicada tribe Lamotialnini, a group of genera with representatives in Australia, Africa, and Asia, as well as the Americas.
  Magicicada species spend almost the full length of their long lives underground feeding on xylem fluids from the roots of deciduous forest trees in the eastern United States. In the spring of their 13th or 17th year, mature cicada nymphs emerge in the springtime at any given locality, synchronously and in tremendous numbers. After the prolonged developmental phase, the adults are active for only about 4 to 6 weeks. The males aggregate into chorus centers and attract mates. Mated females lay eggs in the stems of woody plants. Within two months of the original emergence, the lifecycle is complete and the adult cicadas disappear for another 13 or 17 years.
context_section_description: Nearly all cicadas spend years underground as juveniles, before emerging above ground for a short adult stage of several weeks to a few months.  The seven periodical cicada species are so named because, in any one location, all of the members of the population are developmentally synchronized—they emerge as adults all at once in the same year. This periodicity is especially remarkable because their lifecycles are so long—13 or 17 years. Cicadas of all other species (perhaps 3000 worldwide) are not synchronized, so some adults mature each summer and emerge while the rest of the population continues to develop underground. Many people refer to these nonperiodical species as annual cicadas since some are seen every summer. The few known lifecycles of annual species range from two to 10 years, although some could be longer.
  The nymphs of the periodical cicadas live underground, usually within 2 ft (61 cm) of the surface, feeding on the juices of plant roots. The nymphs of the periodical cicada undergo five instar stages in their development underground. The difference in the 13- and 17-year lifecycle is said to be  the time needed for the second instar to mature. While under ground, the nymphs move deeper below ground, feeding on larger roots.
  In the spring of the emergence year, mature fifth-instar nymphs construct tunnels to the surface and wait for the soil temperature to reach a critical value.  In some situations, nymphs extend mud turrets up to several inches above the soil surface.  The function of these turrets is not known, but the phenomenon has been observed in some nonperiodical cicadas, as well as other tunneling insects.
  The nymphs emerge on a spring evening when the soil temperature around 20 cm (8 in) depth is above 17.9 °C (64 °F). In most years in the United States, this works out to late April or early May in the far south, and late May to early June in the far north. Emerging nymphs climb to a suitable place on the nearby vegetation to complete their transformation into adults. They molt one last time and then spend about six days in the trees waiting for their exoskeletons to harden completely. Just after this final molt, the teneral adults are white, but darken within an hour.
  Adult periodical cicadas live only for a few weeks; by mid-July, all have disappeared. Their short adult lives have one purpose: reproduction. The males "sing" a species-specific mating song; like other cicadas, they produce loud sounds using their tymbals. Singing males of a single Magicicada species form aggregations (choruses) that are sexually attractive to females. Males in these choruses alternate bouts of singing with short flights from tree to tree in search of receptive females. Most matings occur in "chorus" trees.
  Receptive females respond to the calls of conspecific males with timed wing-flicks, which attract the males for mating. The sounds of a "chorus"—a group of males—can be deafening and reach 100 dB. In addition to their "calling" or "congregating" songs, males produce a distinctive courtship song when approaching an individual female.
  Both males and females can mate multiple times, although most females seem to mate just once.  After mating, the female cuts V-shaped slits in the bark of young twigs and lays about 20 eggs in each, for a total of 600 or more eggs. After about 6-10 weeks, the eggs hatch and the nymphs drop to the ground, where they burrow and begin another 13- or 17-year cycle.
caption: Transformation of the periodical cicada from the mature nymph to the adult
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