The Cicada Many Things to Many People :: essays papers

The Cicada Many Things to Many PeopleIn this century of rapid scientific discovery, there still exist natural phenomena with the power to inspire wonder and mystery. The cicala, an insect known since ancient times, is one such phenomenon. Because scientific knowledge of the cicala contains many gaps, these mysterious insects can still stimulate our imagination or lead us into confusion. At the present time, the cicada is many things to many population it is a curiosity that should be approached scientifically it is a source of superstition and dread it is also little more than an annoying, seasonal inconvenience. The cicada is a stout, desolate insect about an move on in length. Various species of this insect can be found all over North of the America. When the cicada is at rest, its large, transparent, vein wings are folded over the top of its body and extend about a quarter of an inch beyond it. Cicada wing veins are and instruction reddish orange in color, as are its eyes an d legs. The front legs are sharp and crablike, allowing the animal to hold tight to the bark of trees. The species of American cicada most written about by scientists and most wondered about by the general public is known as the periodical cicada. Its scientific name is genus Magicicada septendecim. This species of cicada appears above ground only once every seventeen years.What the cicada does underground for most of its seventeen-year life span was a mystery until fair recently. In the early part of this century, a man named C.L. Marlett, who worked for the United States Department of Agriculture, decided to find out. He began burying cicada eggs in his backyard and delve them up periodically for observation. He soon found out that the cicada begins life as a tiny nymph about six hundredths of an inch in length. A nymph is an immature insect, to begin with it has fully developedwings or reproductive organs.During their sixteen years and ten and one-half months underground, cica da nymphs are nestled against tree roots from which they gently suck the juices. Nourished by this root sap, they begin to grow. They shed their skin four times before they reach adult size.Once matured, a cicada does not necessarily leave its underground nursery. All cicadas of the same generation in a surface area wait for a seventeenth spring before they come creeping forth from the ground as a group.