Where do cicadas live. Video "singing cicada for the first time so close." Life cycle of cicadas

“The jumping dragonfly sang red summer ...” You probably recognized these first lines of Krylov’s famous fable. But few people know that the famous fabulist had in mind not a dragonfly at all, but a cicada - one of the most vociferous insects on the planet. The singing of these semi-coleoptera was revered by the ancient Greeks and Buddhists. Far East. Unfortunately, this is the only advantage noted by people. The cicada insect is a dangerous agricultural pest.

Appearance of insects

Cicadas are large insects. The body length of most species reaches 5 cm, while some tropical representatives grow up to 15 cm. The head of the cicadas is short. If you look closely, in the photo of a cicada insect you can see 5 eyes: 2 large on the sides and 3 small, forming a triangle on the crown. It is believed that these insects have excellent eyesight, so they notice enemies from a long distance.

Cicadas have two pairs of wings, with the anterior pair noticeably longer than the posterior. The wings are most often transparent, but in some species they are brightly colored, while in others they are black. The belly of the insect is large and thick; in males it passes into the copulatory apparatus, and in females into the ovipositor. Also, males differ from females in the presence of a vocal apparatus located behind the hind limbs on the underside of the metathorax.

Features of life and behavior

The number of cicadas reaches 500 species. The chirping insect lives on all continents except Antarctica. Most often, cicadas are found in tropical and subtropical countries. There are many of them in India, South America and the Mediterranean countries.

Cicadas live on bushes and trees. Although they can fly, they prefer to lead a calm, even lazy lifestyle. Males wake up only in the hot time of the day and begin to chirp, luring females. The life span of song insects is quite long. The mountain cicada develops over two years, the common cicada lives for 4 years, and the representative of the North American entomofauna, the periodic cicada, for as long as 17 years.

Cicadas feed exclusively on plant foods. Moreover, the diet of different stages of insects is somewhat different: the larvae feed on the roots of plants, and the adults feed on plant juices. Despite good eyesight, cicadas are often preyed upon by predatory insects. The main enemy is considered to be an earthen wasp, which hunts cicadas and feeds their offspring with them.

Reproduction and development

After mating, the females lay their eggs under the bark of trees. After a while, fat clumsy larvae emerge from the eggs. They have hard smooth skin and short limbs that are adapted to digging the soil. Before turning into adults, the larvae live in the ground for several years.

Young growth feeds first on the stems, then on the roots of plants. The larvae quickly gain weight and molt several times. After that, they pupate, develop wings and turn into adult insects.

Love songs

Songbirds are called cicadas because of their unique chirping. When one male begins to sing his serenade, others immediately begin to sing along with him. Such a chorus of cicadas can drown out even the whistle of a locomotive. Singing requires a lot of energy, which insects take from solar radiation, so it is more likely to hear the voice of singers in the daytime. Sometimes, to hide from predators, males chirp at dusk.

The structure of the vocal apparatus

The vocal apparatus has three cavities: two lateral and one median. Inside the median there are two pairs of membranes: folded and shiny, similar to mirrors. The middle cavity functions as a resonator. The lateral ones open outward thanks to the holes, and the eardrum is located on the inner wall. A special muscle is attached to it, the contraction and relaxation of which leads to the oscillation of this membrane. These vibrations emit a metallic ringing, which, with the help of resonance in the middle cavity, turns into a loud piercing sound.

Cicadas are excellent singers, but, unfortunately, they are dangerous pests of cultivated plants. This is due to the nature of nutrition at various stages of insect development. We already know that the larvae eat the roots, while the adults eat the soft parts of the plant. Therefore, the defeat of crops occurs with a vengeance.

Young larvae eat the stems and lower leaves of plants. After the first molts, the nymphs begin to infect the upper leaves, the basal part of the stem and the roots. Adult insects continue their evil mission, devouring not only the leaves and soft stems, but even the bark.

Almost everything destroys cicadas:

cereal crops;
legumes;
most of the vegetable crops;
sugar and starch plants;
oilseeds;
melons;
grape;
berry bushes;
roses and other ornamental plants.

Cicadas are classified as sucking pests because of their way of feeding. Both larvae and adults pierce the thick skin of plants with their sharp proboscis and inject a special secret inside. The insects then attach themselves to the plant and drink the cell sap. Where the meal took place, light spots appear, which gradually merge and expand, hitting a large area. Over time, the plant loses its color and fades. If we add to this the violation of mineral metabolism due to damage to the roots, then we can understand why cicadas are considered the cause of significant crop loss.

Cicada: Video

Tells entomologist, candidate of biological sciences Dmitry Belov.

Grasshopper

These are the most common "chirrers". Grasshoppers live on almost the entire territory of Russia, except for the highlands and regions Far North. Most species are hunters, patiently waiting for their prey to arrive. In this, the grasshopper looks like a praying mantis - it also, hiding, watches for the victim, and then grabs it with strong forepaws and powerful jaws. Sometimes the grasshopper moves with quiet steps, feeling the road in front of him with his antennae - as soon as they touch another insect, the hunter quickly catches it. In choosing an object for a snack, he does not disdain anyone, even his relatives. Most often, aphids, hairless caterpillars, young beetles and fillies are found in its jaws. If there is not enough animal food, the grasshopper can also switch to vegetation, eating the buds and leaves of shrubs, various cereals. Only a few species are completely herbivorous, such as the greenhouse grasshopper, which damages flowers in greenhouses.

So it turns out that the children's song is telling a lie: the grasshopper will “touch” the goat, and is not particularly friendly with flies. And, by the way, it can easily bite through the skin on the fingers of a person who inadvertently grabbed it. Moreover, he will burp a drop of his own blood into the wound, which will burn like fire. Handle him with care!

Built-in violin

The grasshopper performs incredibly beautiful melodies with the help of its front wings. With a jagged vein on the left wing, like a bow, the grasshopper leads along the "grater" on the right wing, and from it the vibrations are transmitted to a special vibrating membrane - "mirror".

The artist's "track list" includes long piercing invocative songs, short warning trills to rivals and a quiet squeaky ballad addressed to the lady of the heart. The male does not just play it - sometimes he also dances, swaying from side to side during the performance.

The organs of hearing in grasshoppers are located ... on the shins of the front legs. Inside, the “ears” are very complicated, but on the outside they look like membranes or narrow slits.

Here is the jump!

The grasshopper is a world famous jumper: the height of his jump is ten, and the length is twenty times his own height.

locust

It is possible that a locust or a filly gives a concert in your garden. This is the closest relative of grasshoppers, found almost everywhere, with the exception of the coldest regions. She only eats plants.

Locusts have become infamous for their monstrous appetite and ability to gather in billions of swarms. Every day, the locust eats plant food as much as it weighs itself. It would seem that this is not much, only 2 g, but a flock of a billion insects is already absorbing 2000 tons! In Russia, locusts live in the lower reaches of the Volga, Ural, Don, Terek.

Filly (small species of locust) are more modest in their appetites, but are found everywhere. They can be seen even in the center of a large city.

Photo: www.globallookpress.com

What does she play

The sound apparatus of the locust is not complicated. This is a long row of knobs on the hips of the hind legs and a thick vein on the front wing. By quickly moving its foot along the wing, the insect makes jerky chirring sounds. The melody changes from ringing at noon to quiet and hoarse at dawn and dusk.

Grasshopper or locust?

The grasshopper has long whiskers (they are 4 times longer than the body), the locust has short ones. The female grasshopper has a saber-shaped ovipositor at the end of the abdomen, while the locust does not. The grasshopper has a pointed head at the bottom, and a short body for greater maneuverability. The locust has a rounded and blunt head, and an elongated body for better aerodynamics. Grasshoppers are sedentary, while swarms of locusts fly thousands of kilometers.

Cicada

If the song comes from above, then most likely it is performed by a cicada, one of the worst enemies of plants. Adult insects suck the juices from the leaves of grasses, shrubs and trees. The larvae hide in the ground and damage the roots.

Southern cicadas are large (body length - 2-6.5 cm, wingspan - up to 18 cm), and small cicadas live in Central Russia and to the north - no more than 1 cm tall.

Photo: www.globallookpress.com

The body of the cicada is wide and short, on the sides there are two pairs of transparent wings. The head is broad, with large bulging eyes. The legs are strong, but the cicadas cannot jump high, and they fly so-so. Most of the time they prefer to walk.

To the touch, the cicada is much tougher than it looks, and its wings are so dense that it feels like they can cut themselves. But in fact they are harmless to humans.

Both male and female cicadas chirp, although the latter do so extremely rarely. But the males, wanting to attract the "ladies", announce the air with a very loud song - up to 100 decibels. Sometimes it can be heard from a distance of 800 meters.

Powerful vocals

The cicadas' loud songs help keep predators at bay. In the deserts of North America, the cicada chorus is so powerful that the eardrums of man cannot stand it! What then happens to predators, whose hearing is much more subtle? None of them will dare to approach the singing cluster of cicadas.

Where is the voice from?

The cicada's voice apparatus is a very clever device. Simplified, it can be described as follows. On the lower part of the body, she has membranes ("cymbals"). With the help of special muscles, the cicada can strain them and relax them sharply. Rapid vibrations generate sound, which is amplified and modified by a special chamber in the insect's body. By the same principle, sounds are made by a tin can with a convex bottom, if it is alternately pressed with a finger and released again.

The word "cicada" is known to everyone, it is it that arises in the imagination when the sounds made by chirring insects are heard.

Cicadas are song insects belonging to the type of arthropods, order Hemiptera. The family of cicadas includes about 2500 species.

Cicadas are very agile and cautious, they rarely get within 1 meter. But it is not difficult to see them, because during the breeding season all the bushes in the coastal forest are literally strewn with cicadas.

Appearance of cicadas

This is a fairly large insect. The body length of the cicada reaches 30-36 millimeters. The head is large, it is wider than the pronotum. On the head, on the sides, there are two large, complex eyes, and in the center there are 3 simple small eyes.

The cicada has a long proboscis that reaches the end of the mesothorax. This proboscis, together with a striped shield that resembles a visor, looks quite menacing.

Male cicadas have a complex organ with which they publish their "songs".

The wings are very strong and dense, if you take a cicada in your hands, it seems that you can cut your fingers on the wings, they are so hard. The color is black, there is a pattern on the head and pronotum yellow color. The wings are transparent.

Habitat of cicadas

Common cicadas are common in the Mediterranean Sea, the Caucasus, Transcaucasia and the Crimea. In Crimea, they live in the mountainous zone, in the southern part of the peninsula. There are no cicadas at all in the steppes, and besides, they have practically disappeared in the foothills.

Cicadas live, as a rule, on trees and bushes.

Life cycle of cicadas

The females lay their eggs under the skin of plant stems. The eggs hatch into larvae that spend 2-4 years underground. And an adult lives for about a month.

The cicada larva has impressive claws, like a praying mantis. Because of these claws, you might think that the larva is a voracious predator, but this is not so, the larvae need this tool to dig the ground.

Young larvae live and feed on the stems of plants, and when they grow up, they burrow underground and begin to consume the roots. The lifespan of the larvae depends on the type of cicada.

The larva molts many times, and the makings of wings are formed in it. The last molt occurs, as a rule, on a tree, as a result, an adult cicada appears.

Diet of cicadas

Cicadas, at each stage of their life, feed only on plant sap. They extract juice by performing punctures in the stems and roots, like larvae. At the same time, plants are not seriously affected by this.

But during the period of laying eggs, females cause harm by laying eggs under the skin or bark of plants, thereby violating their integrity. Therefore, cicadas are considered to be pests in agriculture, as they damage the grapes.

Most people have no idea what a cicada is. In the evening, you can often hear chirping sounds. This is how cicadas, which are called "singing insects", "sound".

Description

The cicada, translated from the Latin "cicada" - a grasshopper, is a jumping insect of the cicada family, which belong to the order Hemiptera.

By appearance cicada resembles a butterfly. Their body size is on average 4-5 centimeters, some species can reach a length of up to 13-15 centimeters. A small head with a proboscis, antennae with 7 ends that serve as organs of touch, there are two eyes on the sides and three eyes in the center, which form a triangle. It has a pair of wings, one of which is shorter than the other. Their color can be very diverse: from black and transparent to very bright colors.

The cicada has three pairs of legs. The middle pair of legs is wide and short, the front pair of legs is equipped with spikes, the third pair of legs is the most thickened and is designed for jumping. Male cicadas have a copulatory organ at the end of a large belly, and females have an ovipositor. Chirring is carried out by bringing the tympanic membrane into vibration with a special muscle. Singing sounds can only be made by male cicadas,

General characteristics

Currently, the cycad family includes 2500 species. They live mainly in tropical countries with a hot climate. They live in trees and shrubs. In areas with a cold climate, for example, in Siberia, Antarctica, it is impossible to meet them.

The average life expectancy of cicadas is 4-5 years, some species can live up to 16-17 years. This is due to the duration of the process of transformation of the larva into an insect. This is interesting in view of the fact that after turning into an insect, the cicada lives for a relatively short time. Plant sap serves as food for adults, and tree roots for larvae.

Males attract the attention of females with the help of singing sounds. The eggs of the female are laid under the bark of trees or under shrubs. The eggs hatch into rather large larvae. They have special limbs with which they dig the soil. They feed on tree roots and live underground before becoming insects.

Harm

Cicadas are quite harmless insects. They do not pose a potential threat to humans. They eat exclusively plant foods. Moreover, in some countries of Central Asia they are eaten.

Despite the harmlessness to humans, it is important to note the fact that cicadas are the worst pests for crops. Almost all cultivated plants, berry bushes, and flower plants are affected.

Cause a "double blow": cicada larvae infect the roots of plants, and adults stems and leaves. Affected plants prematurely lose leaves, weaken, which significantly affect the yield.

Fighting methods

Folk methods of struggle

Solution tar soap. Dissolve 100-200 grams of soap in 10 liters of warm water and treat the plants with this solution.
Garlic-tobacco blend.
Crops of garlic and onions next to the plants.
Special traps - lanterns, vacuum blowers.

Chemical control methods

To combat cicadas, you can use special chemicals that are sprayed on plants. Attention, these products must be used in accordance with the instructions and all precautions must be observed:

"Fastak"
"Akarin"
"Karate 050 EC"

Prevention

Feed and in every possible way contribute to the appearance in the garden of enemies of pests of agricultural crops - birds, lizards. Cicadas easily become prey to predators. Birds can help reduce their numbers in the garden.
In late autumn, after harvesting, dig up the ground. The larvae on the surface will be destroyed either by the cold or by birds.
Choose a sowing time for crops that does not coincide with the development of larvae, or the appearance of adults. Lack of food can adversely affect their development.
Dispose of affected plants during the time to localize the lesion and prevent spread.
Soil loosening, weed control.

To avoid the appearance of cicadas, it is necessary to observe preventive measures and use folk remedies. If the pests still appeared in the garden or on suburban area they can be reduced using chemicals. Usually cicadas appear after a warm winter.

What a cicada looks like, see the following video:

On a summer evening it is so pleasant to listen to the trill of insects in the grass. They do not stop playing music until dawn, which allows you to enjoy the melody to your heart's content. To understand the etiology and causes of these sounds, it is necessary to consider the simple process that crickets do to create such a melody.

Where does the sound come from

The answer to the question of how a cricket makes sounds lies in the structure. Grasshoppers chirp according to one principle, but the apparatus for making sounds is more advanced among representatives of the cricket family. The sound of the acoustic apparatus of crickets is more diverse and polygamous than that of grasshoppers.

The ambient temperature directly affects the sound quality and volume. Insects belong to the category of thermophilic, and if the thermometer of the thermometer drops below +21 degrees, then they hibernate.

On a note!
On a hot summer night, you can watch the most active and intense sound of cricket music.

An acoustic apparatus than a cricket chirps is available only in representatives of the strong half of insects. The chirping of a cricket is not in vain reminiscent of the sound of a violin, since it has a special vein under its wings. It is her beating on the fenders that helps to make melodic sounds. From the point of view of the correct sound, there is no difference in whether the crickets cricket or chirp. Therefore, both words are equally applicable to representatives of the order Orthoptera.

Causes of chirring

The main reason why you can hear the chirping of crickets is the characteristics of reproduction. In this way, a sexually mature male tries to attract a female. His friction can last from dawn to dusk until the cry is heard. The success of the process will largely depend on the strength of the sound of the male, the more energetic, melodic and louder he is, the more likely he is to attract a female.

You can hear how a cricket sings not only if he wants to breed. Insects lead a separate lifestyle and occupy several square centimeters. The site is carefully guarded by its owner and does not allow guests, except for the female. He goes around his possessions several times a day and checks the integrity of the territory.

Interesting!
The chirring is designed to scare away uninvited guests and warn of the militant mood of the owner of the site.

It is pleasant for a person to listen when crickets cricket, regardless of the reason for these sounds. Their trill is also melodic, like the singing of birds, so some even prefer to breed representatives of Orthoptera at home. It is not difficult to do this, and optimism is fueled by the fact that in captivity, singers can chirp not only at night, but also during the day.

When they chirp

In most cases, it is possible to hear the chirping of a cricket only at night. That's when the musicians come out of their holes. Although on country fields you can enjoy the trill at any time of the day. During mating games, insects can play music both day and night. It's very easy to silence an Orthoptera. He stops singing as soon as he senses danger. Therefore, at the slightest approach to him, the male hides in a mink.

Interesting!
The features of this behavior explain why crickets chirp at night. After all, it is at this time that they can calmly call the female and not be afraid of being noticed by a person or animals.

The simplicity of the acoustic organ of grasshoppers does not allow them to chirp at night. At this time, dew falls in the grass and the wet organ is not able to trill. The sound of the green insect can only be heard during the daytime.

In Japan, little musicians enjoy special reverence. They are bred specifically to be able to listen to melodic ringing at any time.