The Insane Biology of: The Cicada

Seven species of periodical cicadas in genus Magicicada inhabit the Eastern United States, divided into three evolutionary groups that diverged between 3.9 and 2.5 million years ago.

Researchers including Dr. Chris Simon and entomologist Chris Meyer study how periodical cicadas measure time underground. Meyer conducted a 17-year experiment starting in 1979, excavating 100 nymphs annually to track developmental progression.

Periodical cicada nymphs possess endosymbiotic bacteria that enable survival on nutritionally inadequate xylem fluid over 13-17 year developmental periods underground.

Male periodical cicadas possess specialized sound-producing organs called tymbals that no other insect group has evolved, enabling them to generate calls reaching 100 decibels near chorus centers.

Three 17-year Magicicada species (M. septendecim, M. cassini, and M. septendecula) produce acoustically distinct calls that enable females to identify conspecific males during mass emergence events when multiple species chorus simultaneously.

Female periodical cicadas possess ovipositors containing manganese, zinc, and iron that enable them to saw through woody tree branches to deposit approximately 500 eggs per individual.

Periodical cicadas emerge in populations reaching trillions of individuals simultaneously, vastly exceeding the consumption capacity of all predators including birds, squirrels, badgers, dogs, and humans.

Massospora fungus specifically targets periodical cicadas, infecting their abdomens with spores that sterilize hosts while hijacking their nervous systems to maximize transmission across both male and female cicadas.

Periodical cicadas function as ecosystem engineers that redistribute nutrients vertically from underground tree resources to forest floor and canopy predators, benefiting trees, soil microbes, and animal populations across trophic levels.

The three Magicicada groups (decim, cassini, and decula) diverged between 3.9 and 2.5 million years ago during the Pleistocene epoch when continental ice sheets repeatedly expanded and contracted across North America from 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago.

Cicada broods represent geographic groupings of multiple Magicicada species that emerge simultaneously, with Brood 19 being the largest, extending from Maryland to Georgia and Iowa to Oklahoma, comprising four 13-year species.