A recently emerged adult Green Grocer cicada, Cyclochila australasiae. Cicadas are members of the family Hemiptera. C. australasiae is widely distribu
A recently emerged adult Green Grocer cicada, Cyclochila australasiae. Cicadas are members of the family Hemiptera. C. australasiae is widely distributed in coastal regions of Australia from South Australia to Southern Queensland. Adult females lay eggs inside the twigs of trees by means of an ovipositor. The eggs hatch to nymphs, that fall to the ground and for the following 6 or 7 years feed underground on the sap of plant roots. Eventually, in early summer, the mature nymph digs its way out of the ground and climbs a nearby vertical surface, such as a tree trunk, or a shrub or a wall. Clasping this substrate, the nymph's exoskeleton splits, allowing the adult insect to emerge. This picture, taken in Warrandyte Victoria in early December, shows the adult insect, and the case from which it emerged, attached to the unfurling leaf of a ginger lily, Hedychium sp.
Size: 3468px × 5212px
Photo credit: © DR JEREMY BURGESS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: australasiae, australia, biological, biology, cicada, cyclochila, egg, exoskeleton, green, grocer, hemiptera, insect, nymph, victoria, warrandyte, zoological, zoology
