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Cicada (family Cicadidae)

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An adult cicada perched on a stem, showing clear veined wings.

Cicada (family Cicadidae).

Image: USFWS Mountain Prairie, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Overview

Cicadas (family Cicadidae) are sturdy, big-eyed insects best known for the loud, droning, buzzing song the males produce on warm days — one of the classic sounds of summer in much of the world. They have stout bodies, two pairs of clear, membranous wings held tent-like over the back, and prominent, wide-set eyes. Cicadas are not crickets or locusts; they belong to the true-bug order (Hemiptera), and feed by sucking sap from plants.

Their most extraordinary feature is hidden underground: cicada nymphs spend years — in some species many years — buried before emerging to become adults.

Note: there are thousands of cicada species; details here cover them broadly. Treat general statements as approximate and verify against authoritative sources.

Habitat & Range

Cicadas are found on every continent except Antarctica, mainly in warm and temperate regions, in forests, woodlands, grasslands, gardens, and farmland — anywhere with suitable trees or other plants. The adults live in the vegetation above ground, while the nymphs develop in the soil among plant roots.

Diet

Cicadas are sap-feeders. Both the underground nymphs and the adults use piercing mouthparts to drink xylem sap — the watery fluid in plants — from roots (nymphs) and from stems and branches (adults). This dilute diet is part of why nymphs take so long to grow. Cicadas are generally not considered serious pests, though heavy egg-laying can damage young twigs.

Behavior

The male cicada's song is produced not by rubbing body parts (as crickets do) but by rapidly buckling special drum-like membranes called tymbals on the abdomen, which can be amplified by largely hollow internal air sacs — making cicadas among the loudest of all insects. After years underground, nymphs dig to the surface, climb a plant, and moult into winged adults, often leaving their empty brown nymphal skins clinging to bark. The famous periodical cicadas of North America take this to an extreme, emerging together in vast numbers only once every 13 or 17 years, overwhelming predators by sheer abundance.

Human Interaction & Conservation

Cicadas are harmless to people — they do not bite or sting — and their summer chorus is a familiar and even celebrated sound in many cultures; they feature in poetry, art, and folklore, and are eaten in some regions. The mass emergences of periodical cicadas are spectacular natural events. They are generally common, though some species depend on particular habitats. Consult authoritative sources for details.

More photos of the cicada

A freshly emerged (teneral) cicada with soft pale body.

Clanger cicada (Psaltoda claripennis), newly emerged.

Image: Pezoporus wallicus, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Frequently Asked Questions — Cicada

How do cicadas make their loud sound?
Male cicadas sing using special structures called tymbals — drum-like membranes on the abdomen that they buckle in and out very rapidly, producing clicks that merge into a loud buzz. Hollow air spaces inside the body amplify the sound, making cicadas among the loudest insects. Females are usually silent; the song attracts them to the males.
How long do cicadas live underground?
A long time. Cicada nymphs live underground feeding on root sap for years — often several years in common 'annual' cicadas, and famously 13 or 17 years in the periodical cicadas of North America. The winged adult stage that we see and hear, by contrast, lasts only a few weeks.
What are periodical cicadas?
Periodical cicadas are North American cicadas whose nymphs stay underground for exactly 13 or 17 years, then emerge all at once in enormous synchronised numbers. Emerging together overwhelms predators (which can't eat them all), giving the survivors a better chance to breed. These mass emergences are dramatic, much-anticipated events.
Are cicadas harmful?
Not to people — cicadas don't bite or sting and are harmless to humans and pets. They feed on plant sap and are not generally serious pests, although large numbers laying eggs can damage the thin twigs of young trees. Mostly they are simply a loud, harmless, and iconic part of summer.

Sources and further reading

Authoritative wildlife references used for general educational context. Conservation status should always be verified against current IUCN Red List data. External links open in a new tab.