Moulting in Cicada


Moulting of Cicada (Time Lapse)


Exopterygota is the subclass of pterygote which includes Cicadas. They undergo incomplete/hemimetabolous type of metamorphosis, where nymphs gradually look like the adults with each succeeding molt. Cicada nymphs differentiate from adults in appearance. The nymphs are obviously wingless, strong forelegs (fossorial), tarsus with one claw and underdeveloped wing buds, while adults have long slender legs with two claws per tarsus. Xylem sap is the primary feed item for both nymphs and adults at the same time cicada nymphs are subterranean and feed from the roots of plants and adult cicadas live above ground and feed from trunks, branches and twigs of trees and shrubs.
Cicada nymphs spend a minimum of 4 years underground (Callaham et al., 2000), where they pass through six instars (five moults) before emerging from the nymphal cast as adults. The final moult from nymph to adult cicada in the species in this study usually takes several hours at night after the nymph digs through the earth and climbs the first plant it encounters. Potential threats such as predation and desiccation during emergence suggest that selection would ideally favour rapid emergence.

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