What growth stages does a cicada go through in its lifetime?

The cicada is a family within the suborder Auchenorrhyncha of the order Hemiptera in the class Insecta, commonly known as zhi liao, jie luo zi, zhi mu ya, zhi liao hou, and so on. It is a hemimetabolous insect, developing from an egg and a larva (nymph), and becoming an adult after one molt without passing through a pupal stage. Let us take a look below at the growth process of a cicada's life!

Cicada eggs

Each year from June to July, cicadas transform from pupae into adults and then lay eggs within just a few days. The eggs reach their peak hatching period from late May to early June of the following year, and hatching activity ends in late June. Most hatching occurs in the afternoon during the day, accounting for about 80%, while hatching at night is less common, at about 20%. The egg stage lasts nearly 300 days.

Larvae

Cicada larvae live in the soil and have a pair of strong digging forelegs. They suck sap from the roots of host plants and are not very active. They usually stay in the soil for several years or even more than ten years. After autumn when the temperature drops, they burrow deep into the soil to overwinter, and when spring warms up they migrate upward again to become active near tree roots. Within a year, the number of nymphs in the soil is highest in May.

Eclosion

After completing the entire nymphal life process in the soil, mature nymphs emerge from the ground from late May to mid-to-late August and crawl to shrub branches, weed stems, and other places. They attach themselves to bark, branches, and leaves with their claws and the spines of their forelegs, then molt and eclose into adults.

Adults

Usually mid-June to mid-July is the peak period for adult emergence, and early October is the end period. About 20 days after adult eclosion, they mate and lay eggs. Egg laying begins in late June, late June to late August is the peak period of adult egg laying, early September to early October is the end of egg laying, and the final sighting period is early November. After laying eggs, the adults die, and the eggs begin to hatch, entering the next life cycle.