Cicadidae  

Pretty much any animal that eats insects will eat a cicada if it can catch one. Cicadas don't have many defenses. Nymphs hide deep in the soil. Adults will fly from danger if they can, and if caught make a very loud buzzing sound that may surprise predators. When millions of cicadas emerge at once, they overwhelm their predators: there are so many that the predators can't eat them all, and many cicadas survive.

Known Predators:

• Hymenoptera
• large Araneae 
• Mantodea
• Coleoptera
• Anura
• Aves
• Chiroptera
• Soricidae (eat nymphs)
• Mephitis mephitis (eat nymphs)

Newly-hatched cicadas climb or drop down to the ground from the branch their egg was in. They burrow into the ground and start feeding on the plant juices in roots. As they grow they shed their exoskeleton several times. They sometimes spend many years in the soil before they are finished growing. For some species it takes 13 years, others take 17, and some take less, but nobody knows exactly how long.

When they are mature, they climb out of the ground and complete one final molt. They emerge as an adult cicada with wings, and fly away to find a mate. Once they become an adult they stop growing and do not molt again.

Some of the species that take 13 or 17 years all come out of the ground at one time. There can be millions of adult cicadas flying around at that time.

After mating, females lay eggs in the bark of small twigs. They can each lay dozens of eggs.

Breeding season: Summer

Key Reproductive Features: semelparous ; iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; sexual ; fertilization (Internal ); oviparous

Species in the Cicada family don't take care of their offspring.

Parental Investment: no parental involvement

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