An insect that chirps. Cicadas (cicadidae). Insect appearance

Against cicadas, the use of insecticides such as "Fastak" and "Karate 050 EC" of contact-intestinal action is effective.

After two spraying cycles, carried out with a break of 10 days, the pest completely disappears. Can be harvested 20 days after last treatment insecticide "Karate 050 EC". The first of the drugs is not accompanied by such restrictions: with the correct application of the indicated doses, it does not have a harmful effect on plants.

Usually, the marginal strips of seedlings of winter cereal crops infected with cicadas are treated at a concentration of 55 to 145 individuals per square meter area. It is not difficult to find adult insects.

The principles of pollination in vegetable gardens are the same.

These works are carried out in a calm evening. A sprayer is used for processing, you cannot use a broom.

1. You only need to cook required amount working solution, as it is prohibited to store it.
2. Depending on the pollinated area in 1 liter of water, you need to dissolve the amount of insecticide indicated on the package and filter the resulting solution.
3. Place half of the specified volume of water in a large container. Then pour the prepared solution into it and mix well.
4. Finally, add the remaining half of the water to the desired volume while continuing to mix the contents.
5. Rinse the empty container, freed from the drug solution, with water 2 times and add to the total mass. Filter it again and pour it into the spray tank.
6. At the end of the work, wash it with a solution of soda ash.

Before and after work, you should thoroughly wash your hands and change your clothes. During manipulations, do not touch your face with your hands, especially do not eat or drink.

The effectiveness of this method is undoubtedly very high.

Timely application in the complex of agrotechnical, sanitary and chemical with larvae and adult individuals of cicadas, it is possible to successfully combat this common pest of field and garden crops. Maintaining a rich harvest is quite achievable!

In summer, you can hear long, often shrill sounds coming from trees and bushes. It is sung by male cicadas. Cicadas are the loudest representatives among insects. Their singing is more varied than the chirping of grasshoppers and locusts. And they reproduce sounds with a completely different instrument - the eardrums.

Insect taxonomy

What order of insects are cicadas? Scientists have attributed them to the Homoptera. Homoptera - because all 4 wings are of the same or almost the same density. Proboscis - as they have a piercing-sucking proboscis. They feed on plant sap. This order also includes aphids, scale insects and worms.

Characteristics of cicadas

Despite the fact that cicadas are separated into a separate suborder, they have common signs of insects. For example, in representatives of this taxon, the front wings are either transparent or leathery. Fold up like a roof. The body is thick, the wings protrude far beyond the tip of the abdomen. Antennae are short, segmented. The wide head has 2 compound eyes and three simple ones.

The larvae are delicate, with thin integuments, therefore they live in shelters. At first, they live under the bark of trees, then fall to the ground and burrow rather deep. Sometimes a meter deep. Some representatives protect themselves from predators and desiccation by forming a foam around their body.

The length of cicadas is from 2 to 70 mm. Smaller representatives jump well, using the hind jumping limbs for this. In large species, all limbs are walking.

Song cicadas

Selected in a separate family. The family is also called "real cicadas". They have a number of common features. The description of song cicadas is as follows: large insects with a thick abdomen, walking legs and well-developed transparent wings. The thighs of the forelegs are thickened, with two or three teeth. All representatives have a remarkable ability to sing loudly. There are about 1,500 species of song cicadas in the world. These creatures live mainly in warm climatic zones.

The signs of insects are the same for all representatives of song cicadas. Therefore, having memorized one cicada, it is easy to determine the belonging of the other species to the same family.

Singing cicadas

Cicadas sing in a variety of ways. The description of the song is individual for each type. The voice can sound like the sound of a circular saw or the monotonous signal of a train. Some songs differ in the presence of two parts, which differ in sound.

The thymus organs that produce sound are located on the ventral side of the body. Special plates cover the device. The cymbals themselves are composed of three membranes. The outer membrane is connected to powerful muscles. The muscles change the convexity of the membrane to the concavity, and vice versa. The muscles attached to the center of the instrument tense, flexing the membrane. Sound is played. Further, the muscles relax, and the membrane returns to its previous position. At this stage, the sound may or may not be heard by the human ear. The result is a chirping sound similar to playing with the domed lid of a tin can. The rest of the membranes (front and back) are in resonance with the outer or have their own muscles. The back membrane is called a speculum. It shimmers beautifully in different colors.

Oscillations are performed up to 4000 times per second in the presence of sufficient heat. However, a hundred times per second is enough for the chirping of a cicada. Large air cavities amplify sound - they are resonators. The cavities are connected to spiracles for air supply. By the way, only big representatives sing loudly. The smaller ones also sing, but so softly that they cannot be heard by the human ear. For a long time it was believed that only males sing. In 1959, 19 species of European leafhoppers were studied. It turned out that the females also sing. However, sound amplifiers are needed so that a person can hear their sounds.

Some representatives sing so loudly that a person's ear cannot stand it. This is excellent protection against predators. Such loud cicadas are common, for example, in the deserts of North America.

The cicada with the longest life cycle lives on the same continent. The larva turns into an adult after 17 years. This is a record among insects. However, not all species of the family have been studied. Perhaps other amazing representatives of the song cicadas will be discovered.

Lifestyle

What does a cicada eat? The larvae live underground, where they feed on the sap of young plant roots. They also suck the juice of the underground part of the stem. What does the cicada eat when it grows up? Adult representatives pierce the cell walls of plants with their proboscis and drink the juice. After eating insects, the juice continues to stand out. A droplet of nutrient fluid is formed. It freezes in air. Manna - this is how such droplets are called.

Thus, the habitat of song cicadas is a biotope with vegetation. Adults love to sing while sitting in trees and bushes. The larvae live in the soil under the same woody plants. Song cicadas are common all over the world.

Signs that you are hearing a cicada

How to distinguish the singing of a cicada from the sounds of orthopterans? Cicadas usually show their trills during the day, especially during the hot noon hours. The point is that it takes a lot of energy to sing. This energy is provided by solar heat. Only a small number of representatives are awake at twilight. In this case, energy is generated by the work of the muscles that are usually used for flight.

Singing cicadas sit on trees and bushes, usually taller than human growth. So if the song is heard from above, then, most likely, the male trills it.

Life cycle of a song cicada

The female makes a hole in the bark of a fresh young twig of a tree or bush with her ovipositor. Lays eggs in a depression. Larvae emerge from them. At first, they can remain on the branches and feed on the juices of the aerial part of the plant. But then they necessarily fall to the ground and immediately begin to bury themselves in the ground, where it is difficult for insect consumers to find them. There is enough moisture underground, cool, a lot of food. The larvae have digging limbs. Young roots are looking for insects. They pierce the vegetation with the beak-shaped proboscis and suck the juice. So they eat from a year to 17 years, depending on the type of insect. Plant juice is not very nutritious, so the development of many representatives is delayed for several years.

In the process of growth, the larvae molt several times. Before the last molt, they come to the surface. They sit on the trunk of the nearest tree. Here, an adult emerges from the larva. This is a long, not minute process. After emerging from the old skin, the cicada dries the wings for about an hour. An adult lives for 1-2 months. Thus, the cicada has a life cycle with that is, the pupal stage is absent.

Symbiosis with cicadas

Plant sap is basically a sweet carbohydrate liquid. Cicadas, like all animals, must also receive protein to build their body. For this, there are symbiotic fungi in their bodies. Their colonies provide insects with protein.

Representative of central Russia

Mountain cicada (Cicadetta Montana) is the only representative living in middle lane Europe. The rest of these cicadas live to the south. The mountain cicada is smaller than its tropical relatives. The name "mountain" is not entirely successful, because this species lives mainly on the plains.

Research of a typical representative of Australia

David Young is an Australian research scientist. He is studying the singing of Australian green cicadas (Cyclochila australasias).

This creature, sitting in a tree, begins to sing. After a while, other males living nearby join the "soloist". It makes a whole chorus. Usually one insect sings for a few seconds or minutes. The invertebrate choir continues to sing for a long time. This is how males attract females.

The singing of the green cicada is perceived as a continuous loud sound without David Young, choosing an individual sitting alone, recorded the song on a tape recorder. Next, we analyzed the recording on the computer. It turned out that the singing of the cicada is a lot of impulses. Moreover, the right and left instruments work in turn. The number of impulses was usually 230 and sometimes reached 4000 per second.

In the process of chirping, song cicadas take a special stance. The male raises the abdomen, while the wings diverge slightly to the sides.

Other representatives of the cicada suborder

In addition to singing representatives, the families of Cicadca, Gorbatka, Pennitsa belong to cicadas. They all have the same appearance. However, they also have hind jumping limbs.

Cicadas are smaller in comparison with true cicadas. Their front wings are dense, leathery. These creatures are very mobile, they fly better than singing cicadas. Both larvae and adults live on grassy vegetation.

The humpbacks have curly outgrowths on the pronotum. Most diverse in South America.

Pennies are often brightly colored. Their front wings are dense. They jump well, but in danger they fall to the ground, where it is more difficult to notice them. Pennies larvae have a special adaptation to prevent drying out. They form around themselves a foamy mass, for which they got their name.

The larva secretes a special liquid - the sap of plants that has not been absorbed by the body. The larva is inhabited by symbionts that secrete mucin. Mucin is added to the secretions. It provides the viscosity of the fluid. The larva foams the sap of plants with mucin, releasing air bubbles into the mass from the spiracles and whipping it with quick movements of the legs. So she finds herself in her wet house. Penny cicadas live all over the world. In Madagascar, for example, drops of foam fall from the trees - the secretions of cicadas, as if it were raining.

The attitude of people to cicadas

Among peoples, the attitude towards cicadas varies greatly. So, the Romans really did not like the crackling singing of these insects. The ancient Greeks respected cicadas, loved to listen to their music, and even depicted insects on coins. In Spain, cicadas are very popular. You can always see souvenirs with images of these creatures on sale.

Nanotechnology

Psaltoda claripennis is a cicada whose wing surface is covered with microscopic needles. Such a surface kills bacteria that get on the wings. Scientists plan to use the discovery to create bactericidal materials.

Insects are interesting if you look closely at them. There are still many more species of cicadas and other invertebrates to study. Many amazing discoveries have been made in science, and we still have to learn new secrets from the life of insects, their structure and behavior. Many arthropods lead a complex lifestyle. Cicadas are distinguished by an unusual structure, they are the record holders among insects. Moreover, they are very beautiful. Those who have seen the massive emergence of adult song cicadas from the last stage of the nymph larva will clearly not remain indifferent.

Family Cicadas real (Cicadidae)

Cicadas- mostly large insects found in all parts of the world, mainly in hot countries.

Song cicadas are inhabitants of mainly tropical and generally warm countries. Singing cicadas got their name; for their exceptional chirping ability. Even a small mountain cicada fills the air of our steppe forest plantations and ash forests with a loud chirping, reminiscent of the chirping of grasshoppers.

In the evenings, somewhere in the Crimea, one can hear the incessant abrupt chirping of an ordinary cicada. In the tropics, the cicadas "sing" even louder, their chirping resembles the sound of a circular saw, and in South America and India, the sounds emitted by cicadas both in volume and sharpness are not inferior to the shrill whistle of a steam locomotive.

Only males make sounds, which have a pair of convex plates - cymbals on the underside of the anterior segment of the abdomen.

Up to 500 species of cicadas are known. They live in trees and bushes, and fly quite well. Males chirp or sing mainly during the hottest part of the day; apparently, their singing serves to attract females.

The ancient Greeks greatly appreciated their singing and, as you know, Anacreon wrote an ode in honor of the cicadas. With the help of the proboscis (and the females also of the ovipositor), cicadas make injections into various trees and suck out their juices. Often the sap of trees continues to flow out after the cicadas pricks and, hardening in the air, forms the so-called manna, which is a nutrient.

The singing of cicadas is considered beautiful in many countries (in Indonesia, in France). Not everyone knows that in IA Krylov's fable "Dragonfly and Ant" the word "dragonfly" is unsuccessfully called a cicada. Dragonflies do not jump (and cicadas have jumping legs), do not sing (and cicadas sing), etc. - everything that is said in the fable about a dragonfly does not approach it, but approaches the cicada.

The fact is that Krylov used the plot and images of the famous French fabulist La Fontaine (and La Fontaine used the plots of Aesop's ancient Greek fables).

In the homeland of La Fontaine, the chirping of cicadas and the cicadas themselves are known to everyone, but in the north of Russia, near St. Petersburg, there are practically none. IA Krylov was not strong in entomology and translated the word "cigale" (cicada) as "dragonfly".

We do not have a popular name for the cicada.

Life of cicadas lasts a long time.

Our mountain cicada (the name is unfortunate, since there is a lot of it in the lowland forests in southern Russia and Ukraine) develops for 2 years, the common cicada takes 4 years, and in North America the periodic cicada (Cicada septemdecim) takes 17 years!

In Brazil, several species of cicadas are known as dangerous pests coffee tree... Only singing cicadas are called "cicadas", representatives of the following families are often referred to by the common name "cicadas", since the species of our fauna are small in size, usually a few millimeters.

Cicadas lay eggs under the bark or skin of plants. The larvae are distinguished by a thick, clumsy body, smooth and hard skin, and thick legs with single-segmented legs; forelegs with wide thighs and thighs covered with thorns (a type of burrowing limbs).

Young larvae first suck on the branches of plants, and then live in the ground, where they suck the roots of the plants. Larvae live for several years, although for most species the length of larval life is unknown. The larvae receive, after numerous molts, the rudiments of the wings and pass into the stage of pamers or pupae, which are found on trees.

The central genus of the family - Cicada - is distinguished by large eyes and a wide head; pronotum usually narrower than head; forewings partly leathery and transparent, partly parchment-like at the root; tarsus mostly 3-segmented, less often 2-segmented; this genus includes numerous and large species that live mainly in the tropics.

There are 18 species in Europe. The following species are best known: Cicadidae orni, attributed in the latest taxonomy to the genus Tettigia, yellowish on top with black; forewings with black spots and yellow outer margin; abdomen with reddish edges; length 28 mm.

Found in middle and southern Europe and occurs mainly on ash trees, where it causes the formation of manna. The largest of the European species, Cicadidae plebeja s. fraxini lives in southern Europe.

Cicadidae montana reaches the latitude of Petersburg in Europe and was found in its vicinity on spruce. Cicadidae mannifera, native to Brazil, delivers Brazilian manna.

Cicadidae septemdecim, living in North America, is remarkable for its developmental period of approximately 17 years, so that the insect appears in large numbers every 17 years; compared to most insects, this period of development appears to be extremely long.
According to Rayleigh's observations, this cicada molts more than once a year, so it has 25 to 30 larval instars. The Indians fry and eat this cicada.

Description signs

The cicada family is characterized by the following features. The head is short, the eyes are very prominent; on the crown of the head 3 simple ocelli forming a triangle; short bristle antennae with 7 segments; the mouthparts consist of a 3-segmented proboscis.

The forewings are longer than the hindwings; the wings are mostly transparent, sometimes brightly colored or black; the thighs of the middle pair of legs are short and wide; the front femora are thickened, spiked ventrally; tibiae cylindrical.

The abdomen is usually rather thick and ends in the ovipositor in females, and in the copulation apparatus in males. The presence of a special vocal apparatus in males, arranged as follows, is extremely characteristic.

The apparatus is placed on the underside of the metathorax, behind the hind legs, under 2 large semicircular scales; it consists of a median and 2 lateral cavities. At the bottom of the middle cavity there are 2 pairs of membranes, of which 2 anterior membranes are called fold (due to folds), and 2 posterior membranes are called mirrors, since they are shiny and smooth.

The lateral cavities have an opening on the side that leads to the surface of the body. In the inner wall of these cavities, a tympanic membrane is inserted, to which a muscle is attached, which causes the membrane to vibrate.

The middle cavities serve as resonators. Females have a rudimentary vocal apparatus, so they cannot sing.

The word "cicada" is familiar, of course, to everyone. It is this that pops up in the memory of most people at the sounds produced by any chirping insects, and the cicada itself is considered to be some kind of close relative of grasshoppers or crickets. At least, this is exactly how things are with us, in the middle lane. In fact ...

In fact, the cicada and the grasshopper, if they can be considered relatives, are very, very distant.

For the first time I met cicadas in my distant childhood, leafing through the book "Keys to insects of the European part of the USSR", then a couple of times I saw them in Crimea in the 90s, but it was only in the summer of 2014 that I came across them closely.

I had to walk a lot along the shores of the Black Sea, where in the middle of July the air is filled with the endless chirping of thousands of cicadas coming from all directions. But these insects like to sit on tree branches at a height higher than human growth, and the patronizing coloration often allows them to remain unnoticed, even being in the center of the observer's field of view.

Complete with a protective coloration, cicadas are extremely careful and agile, rarely allowing them to get closer than a meter. But when all the trees in the undersized coastal forest are literally teeming with these insects, the task of finding and catching them becomes a simple matter. And then, finally, having examined the cicadas up close and holding them in my hands, I was impressed, and I am sharing.

Common cicada (Lyristes plebejus)

Common cicada belongs to the family of song cicadas, which includes about 2500 species.

• A type: Arthropods
• Class: Insects
• Detachment: Hemiptera
• Suborder: Cicadids
• Infraorder: Cicadomorpha
• Superfamily: Cicadoidea
• Family: Song cicadas
• Genus: Lyristes
• View: Lyristesplebejus)

Appearance

Common cicada is a large insect. Body length 30-36 mm, with wings 40-50 mm. The head is wider than the pronotum. There are two large compound eyes on the sides of the head, and three small simple eyes in the center.

Common cicada: general view

The photo clearly shows red dots, which could be mistaken for sucked ticks, if not for their correct location.

Proboscis long, reaching to posterior edge of mesothorax. Together with the visor-like striped visor, it looks very intimidating.

Common cicada: bottom view

Males have a complex singing organ.

Coloration black, head and pronotum with yellow pattern. The wings are transparent.

Common cicada: side view

When I first grabbed a cicada, I was surprised that it feels much harder to the touch than it looks. The wings, in contrast to the flies, are so dense that at first it seems that they can cut themselves.

Distribution area

Common cicada lives in the Mediterranean, Crimea, the Caucasus and the Transcaucasus. In Crimea, the species lives in the mountainous zone on the southern coast of the peninsula, but is absent in the steppes and almost disappeared in the foothills. Inhabits mainly tree and shrub vegetation.

Life cycle

The female cicada lays eggs in plant stems. The larva spends in the ground from 2 to 4 years, the adult cicada lives for about 1 month. But about the larvae separately.

Cicada larva

Finally, the cicada forest presented another gift: the discarded shell of the cicada larva. Monstrous pincers, reminiscent of those of a praying mantis, inspire respect.

At first, the crazy assumption arose that the larva was a predator. But, no, it turned out that she was simply equipped with a serious digging tool.

Young larvae feed on the stems of plants, while the grown ones burrow into the ground and move to the roots. The larvae live for several years (depending on the species), up to 17. After many molts, the rudiments of wings appear in the larvae, and with the last molt, which usually occurs on a tree, a cicada is born (the process is approximately similar).

Food

As mentioned above, cicadas at all stages of life feed on plant sap, which they extract by making punctures in the stems or roots (the latter refers to the larvae). At the same time, no serious harm is caused to the plant.

However, damages are caused by females during the period of laying eggs, which are introduced under the bark or skin of plants, violating their integrity. In this regard, cicadas are agricultural pests (in particular, grapes suffer).

How the cicadas chirp

In the vast majority of cicada species, only males chirp, for which they have a complex vocal apparatus on the back of the abdomen, consisting of a membrane set in motion by special muscles. There is a resonator cavity next to the membrane, due to which the sound can reach a very noticeable volume. The following video illustrates the process well.

This is a very simplified description, in fact, the vocal apparatus of the cicada is a very complex device, which is very well described in the book. Jean-Henri Fabre “The Life of Insects. Entomologist's Stories "... The main purpose of singing is to attract a female.

• Let me draw your attention to the mentioned book, which I stumbled upon by accident while searching for information about cicadas. If your interest in entomology extends beyond this article, then I highly recommend reading it.

In literature

It is interesting that the well-known fable of Krylov "Dragonfly and the Ant" is a free translation of La Fontaine's fable "The Cicada and the Ant". I think that the point is not in ignorance of entomology, but in the fact that the fabulist deliberately adapted the text for the inhabitants of the middle and northern latitudes. And really: have you ever seen a dragonfly jump or sing?