The common cicada – Lyristes plebejus
Working in the State Nature Reserve «Utrish» in early June 2013, I witnessed a mass emergence from the soil of nymphs of the common cicada (Lyristes plebejus). For several nights in a row, they crawled out from under my tent literally…
Up to four years the nymphs live in the soil, where they suck juice from rootlets of various plants. At the appointed time, nymphs of the last age come out of the soil. Usually this occurs in the first half of the night. The nymphs creep up on tree trunks, and if they are not around, they can lift up to any elevation and even to tall grass. Usually by dawn the metamorphosis is completed, and the young winged cicadas meet the morning in the crown and, as soon as the rays of the rising sun touch them, begin their loud song …
Once I saw a cicada with its unhardened wings fell from the branch and slightly damaged the wing. A drop of hemolymph appeared. The hemolymph was blue! When the wings completely hardened, the cicada flew off safely …
