| A cicada is an insect with large eyes wide apart on the head, and usually transparent, well-veined wings. Cicadas do not bite or sting, are benign to humans, and are not considered a pest. Most cicadas go through a life cycle that lasts from two to five years. Some species have much longer life cycles, eg the Magicicada goes through a 17- or occasionally 13-year life cycle. This video is about these so called: "periodic cicadas". The long life cycles are an adaptation to predators such as the cicada killer wasp and praying mantis, as a predator could not regularly fall into synchrony with the cicadas. Both 13 and 17 are prime numbers, so while a cicada with a 15-year life cycle could be preyed upon by a predator with a three- or five-year life cycle, the 13- and 17-year cycles do not allow the predators to fall into step. |
