12
Cicada
Babies
Cicadas hatch from eggs. A female carves grooves in
tree bark using a sharp spike at the end of her body.
She lays up to 400 eggs inside these grooves. The eggs
hatch in 6 to 10 weeks. Baby cicadas are called nymphs.
As soon as they hatch, the nymphs fall to the ground
and begin digging into the dirt.
A thin, shell-like body covering protects the
nymphs. They burrow into the soil as deep as 18 inches
(45.7 cm). Buried in the ground, they eat watery sap,
called xylem, from tree roots.
The nymphs eat and grow for 1 to 17 years. Then
they come out of the ground. At night, they crawl up
the side of the nearest tree. Their shells split open,
and the adult cicadas emerge. They now have wings and
exoskeletons.
Different kinds of cicadas have different
life cycles. Swamp cicada nymphs come out of the
ground every year. But dog-day cicada nymphs stay
underground for four years. And periodical cicada
nymphs come out every 13 or 17 years!
Females lay eggs
Nymphs hatch
10
weeks
u
p
t
o
400
eggs
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