In the hot summer, come and discover those colorful cicadas

A summer would not be complete without the chirping of cicadas. It seems that only the noisy chirping of cicadas can prove that a city or a piece of land has experienced dozens of days of scorching sun.

Cicadas, also known as cicada monkeys, cicada thumbs, cicada turtles, ant cicadas, etc., have many species, and more than 2,000 species have been recorded. In my country, there are more than 10 species such as grasshopper cicadas, cicada crickets, grass cicadas, spotted cicadas, thin-winged cicadas, and foam cicadas, and the most common ones in our cities are usually three.

In the hot summer, deep in the leaves, the loudest and most annoying chirping is the grasshopper cicada . Also known as the singing cicada, horse cicada, cicada, singing cicada, autumn cicada, spider cicada, grasshopper, etc., the male is long and wide, while the female is slightly shorter, black and shiny, with a wide head with a downward depression in the middle, and the top and side edges of the face are light yellow-brown. There is a pair of large and wide compound eyes, light yellow-brown, and three simple eyes, located in the center of the compound eyes, arranged in a triangle, and short antennae, located in front of the compound eyes. Every year from June to May, it crawls out of the ground to metamorphose and reproduce. But no matter how loudly this thing chirps in the summer, it can't escape the "easy to fix" menu of foodies.

As early as the Shang Dynasty, golden cicadas were already a special food enjoyed by the royal family, generals, and aristocrats. They were also placed on the altar as a sacrifice to honor their ancestors. Cicadas are high-protein insects. According to China Food Information, their protein content is as high as 72%, and they are rich in vitamins and other nutrients. They are pollution-free, pure natural, low-fat, and high-protein delicacies. Cicada dishes are dishes cooked in Beijing with insects of the Homoptera family as the main ingredients, including meat-stuffed cicadas, cicada pupa crisps, and chopped cicadas. It can be seen that the ancients discovered the truth thousands of years ago that this creature is annoying to call, but tastes particularly delicious .

In addition to the most common black grasshopper cicada, there is also the cicada . This is a relatively small cicada, also known as "cicada", with black stripes and black wings except for the edges. It is widely distributed and sings from May to May, from morning to night, with a "hiss...hiss" sound. It is relatively fragile. When I was a child, my favorite thing to do during summer vacation was to catch cicadas under the trees. In the streets and communities of Shanghai more than 30 years ago, this cicada was the easiest to catch because of its small size. It mainly crouched in the middle and lower parts of the main trunk of the tree. Sometimes it could even be caught by hand, unlike the black grasshopper cicada, which basically crouched in the branches of the tree forks four or five meters high and was difficult to catch easily.

I remember that in the shade of trees in Shanghai, there was a unique kind of cicada chirping in the summer - "Yesita... Yesita...", and this cicada was mainly green, and most of them were Mongolian cicadas . The first to chirp in the summer were black grasshopper cicadas, and the "Yesita" were the most noisy when the coolness of late autumn came.

The sound organ of the cicada is in the abdominal muscle, like a drum covered with a tympanic membrane. The tympanic membrane vibrates and makes a sound. Since the sound muscle can expand and contract about 10,000 times per second, the space between the cover and the tympanic membrane can resonate, so the sound is particularly loud . But don't forget that only male cicadas have a sound organ, and female cicadas are "dumb".

In addition, many people have seen cicadas "peeing" in the sky. In fact, cicadas live in temperate to tropical regions of the world. When the body temperature is overheated, it will discharge excess water from the back plate, thereby achieving the effect of cooling and heat dissipation. This is why we always misunderstand that "cicadas" can pee .

After seeing these three most common types of cicadas, let’s take a look at the less common “colorful” cicadas.

Black Libao Island Cicada . This is one of the largest species of cicadas distributed in China, and appears in large numbers every summer. In addition to its loud chirping and large size, the most eye-catching feature of this cicada is the striking blue-green serrated pattern on its chest and head. The row of white spots and blue main wing veins on its dark brown wings add more spirit to it. In China, they are not only distributed in Taiwan, but also widely distributed in southern and southwestern China.

Cheng's Web-winged Cicada . In the southwest of China, which is mostly plateau terrain. Cheng's Web-winged Cicada has broad front wings that transition from emerald green to yellow-green, with black edges at the end and tightly arranged but not messy wing veins, which are full of orderly beauty. The bright yellow markings on the chest and neck and the red compound eyes add a touch of luxurious momentum. Cheng's Web-winged Cicada has high requirements for habitats and generally lives in forests with good vegetation. Most of the time they live on relatively tall tree trunks, and you can only hear their voices but not see their shadows. But this thing is so beautiful that when it is discovered, people don't even think it is a cicada.

Let's take a look at the cicada that looks like a butterfly - the Guangxi cicada. First look at the picture, the wings and the pattern. Do you think this is a cicada? Isn't it a relative of the butterfly?

The Guangxi cicada is mainly distributed in the southwest and south of China. Among the insects, it is a very delicate and attractive type. Its forewings have bright and generous yellow wavy patterns and emerald green wing veins, and its black hindwings are dotted with white patches. Compared with the high-profile appearance of the above two, the Guangxi cicada gives people a stronger contrast impression. This species is mostly distributed on the edge of the woodland and also has the habit of being attracted by lights. Because of its relatively fast flight and the bright yellow patches on its wings, it is sometimes mistaken for a large butterfly.

The spotted cicada has a pair of spots on the inner side of the compound eyes on the top of its head, 4 spots on the dorsal plate of its medium-sized body, the spots at the ends of the forewings and hindwings are grayish white with unclear boundaries, there are 5 yellowish-brown spots on the base half, the spots on the forewings are mostly long strips, and there are no yellow spots on the ventral plate of the abdomen.

There are many types of cicadas , the most common of which are the red-striped cicada and the small red-spotted cicada. They live on plant leaves and often secrete a foamy substance to protect themselves from drying out and from natural enemies. The jumping ability of cicadas is amazing. There are a lot of muscles in their hind legs. When they jump, they can release the energy in their muscles within a millisecond and jump to a height of 70 centimeters, which is equivalent to a human jumping about 200 meters. This height is definitely a world record for high jump that no one can surpass in the human world.

The red-eyed cicada , whose male abdomen has a pair of tympanic chambers that can make sounds, does not do much harm to nature, but has many benefits. For example, their nymphs dig holes in the ground to help air enter the soil; the female "red-eyed cicada" lays eggs for natural pruning of trees. After the "red-eyed cicada" dies, its corpse also provides a large amount of nitrogen to the land.

It seems that many species of cicadas are really unheard of and unseen. These creatures look less and less like cicadas, but these are all facts. There are still many species on the earth that have not been discovered. Maybe there are more colorful cicadas in some corner waiting for us to discover.