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Demophobe
Joined: 17 May 2004
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 Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 3:33 pm Post subject: Cicada question |
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I don't know if anyone has an answer here, but its an interesting question.
Behind my school, located in a very rural area, it isn't uncommon to find cicadas at low levels. Yesterday, I found one sitting on a huge plant leaf at eye level. Next to this very alive specimen was a dead one in a spiders web, completely hollowed-out; only a beige exoskeleton remained.
The dead creature was a perfectly complete one; there was no external sign of damage or attack.
Now, today, the one that was alive yesterday is in the same state and still on the leaf. Completely dead and hollowed-out.
Both cicadas have a white stringy thing on their backs directly behind their heads. Obviously a predatory parasitic attack of some kind, but I can't seem to find what exactly on the net.
Cicada killers, a type of wasp, take the victim back to their burrows, so for these two to be left where they were standing rules out the wasp. I guess it was a type of spider, though the cicada on the leaf has no web on it and is nowhere near any visible spiders.
It is really strange to see these bugs in this state; a tan colored, see through, crispy, feather-weight version of their former selves.
Does anyone know what is going on with these things? What kind of parasite are they hosting? Has anyone else seen this phenomena? |
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mole
Joined: 06 Feb 2003
Location: Act III
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| Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 3:41 pm Post subject: |
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| They do molt. Are you sure you aren't just seeing a shed skin? |
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Demophobe
Joined: 17 May 2004
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| Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 3:53 pm Post subject: |
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Maybe, but man, it sure is strange that every detail is there; the spines on the legs even! I thought that a molting animal would need an escape; a broken shell at least to let the "fresh" version out. These seem to be completely intact and unbroken.
Houdini cicadas? |
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tatu
Joined: 23 Jun 2006
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| Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 3:56 pm Post subject: |
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Just took a trip to the country and was startled to see many of the brown dead looking bugs clinging to everything. At night walking a round I saw the back of one of them split open and a white cicada emerging. Looked like a scene from alien. Looked up the life cycle of a cicada on the wiki and
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Life cycle
After mating, the female cuts slits into the bark of a twig and deposits her eggs in there. She may do so repeatedly, until she has laid several hundred eggs. When the eggs hatch, the newborn nymphs drop to the ground, where they burrow. Most cicadas go through a life cycle that lasts from two to five years. Some species have much longer life cycles, e.g. the Magicicada goes through a 17- or occasionally 13-year life cycle. These 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 3- or 5-year life cycle, the 13- and 17-year cycles allow them to stop the predators falling into step.
Cicada shell left behind in the south of FranceThe insects spend most of the time that they are underground as nymphs at depths ranging from about 30 cm (1 ft) up to 2.5 m (about 8� ft). The nymphs feed on root juice and have strong front legs for digging.
In the final nymphal instar, they construct an exit tunnel to the surface and emerge. They then moult (shed their skins), on a nearby plant for the last time and emerge as an adult. The abandoned skins remain, still clinging to the bark of trees.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicadaurl
Last edited by tatu on Thu Aug 02, 2007 4:11 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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Demophobe
Joined: 17 May 2004
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| Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 4:07 pm Post subject: |
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Well I'll be...
Thanks for the link. As I couldn't see any evidence of an escape, I thought a parasite was sucking the innards out of them....and fast! Like overnight?!
Solved then. Thanks again.
I would sure like to see one molt....must look pretty cool. |
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mole
Joined: 06 Feb 2003
Location: Act III
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| Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 5:12 pm Post subject: |
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| Demophobe wrote: |
| Houdini cicadas? |
*heh*
They're kind of ubiquitous in Texas, just bigger and greener than the Korean variety.
The sheddings should have a lengthwise split along the back. But yes, they end up looking fairly complete.
We used to hang them on our T-shirts at summer camp.
Since I'm in rambling mode, I used to shoot them out of trees with my BB gun.
As they buzzed to the ground, our pet poodle would go and fetch them.
For such a "foo-foo" house dog, she was quite the hunter!  |
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billybrobby
Joined: 09 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 6:53 pm Post subject: |
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You know I saw a snake with no arms or legs. Obviously a predator attack. But how did it bite them off so cleanly?
Hehe. You think something is eating them from the inside? It's just molting, or whatever cicadas do. I used to collect those empty shells as a kid. |
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