cicada: Definition from Answers.com

Description

Cicada is an animal-derived substance used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). It is extracted from or prepared by grinding the empty shell shed every seven years by the cicada, (Cryptotympana atrata or Cryptotympana pustulata), which is a winged insect that makes a distinctive chirping sound, and belongs to the Cicadidae family.

Cicadas are commonly found in mainland China, Taiwan, and Japan. They had religious significance in ancient China, and symbolized reincarnation or immortality, as the Chinese compared the cicada's periodic molting of its shell with a person's leaving the physical body behind at the time of death. Bronze vessels as old as 1500 B.C. ornamented with cicadas have been found in Chinese tombs, along with white pottery and jewelry featuring cicada designs. During the Han dynasty (202 B.C. to A.D.) 220, the Chinese carved small cicadas out of precious jade and placed them in the mouths of the dead.

The pharmaceutical name of the substance made from this insect is Periostracum cicadae, or chan tui in Chinese. It is prepared from the exuvium, or cast-off shell of the nymph form of the insect. The empty shell is shiny, translucent, and yellow-brown in color. As it would appear in a living cicada, the shell has three portions: head (with two eyes), chest (with wings and a crossed gap), and abdomen (with three pairs of feet).

General Use

The medicinal uses of cicada include treatment of fever and associated seizures; skin rashes; and such eye disorders as conjunctivitis, cataracts, and blurred vision.

Due to its antipyretic effect, cicada-containing preparations are often used to treat high fevers, such as those associated with the common cold or influenza. Western news media reported in April 2003 that the Chinese were using combinations of cicada and silkworm droppings to treat the fever associated with SARS. In addition to reducing fever, cicada is also used in TCM to treat other symptoms of colds and flu, including laryngitis, headache, restless sleep, or nightmares.

Cicada is said to be effective in relieving itchy rashes and eczema. Its special use is for the treatment of rashes or skin eruptions that occur in the early stages of measles or chicken pox. According to traditional Chinese medicine, the sooner the rashes appear, the shorter and less severe these diseases will be. Therefore, a Chinese herbalist may suggest cicada preparations to hasten the eruption of the rash.

Cicada is said to prevent or reduce muscle spasms by reducing the tension of the striated muscles. It may also delay transmission of nerve signals at the neuromuscular junction, thereby reducing muscle spasms. Its actions may be similar to those of Western barbiturates, sedatives, and anticonvulsants (antiseizure medications).

Cicada has also been used in TCM to treat eye diseases associated with wind and heat, including blurred vision and conjunctivitis (inflammation of the membrane that lines the eyelids). It is usually mixed with chrysanthemum flowers (Chrysanthemum morifolium, or ju hua in Chinese) when used to treat cataracts.

Preparations

The usual dosage of cicada when taken alone is 3–9 grams per day. As of 2004, whole cicadas cost about 10 cents per gram when purchased in bulk from suppliers of Chinese medicinal herbs. Cicada may be prepared as a decoction, which means that the insect shells are boiled down to a concentrated broth or tea to be taken internally. Other forms of cicada preparations include ground powder and water and alcohol extracts.

Precautions

A general precaution when using herbs or other alternative medicines is to purchase them only from reputable sources. In the case of traditional Chinese remedies, this precaution is particularly important because many of them are imported from countries without strict production or labeling standards. In the case of cicada, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported in June 2003 that a shipment described as "Cicada Molting Herbal Food Supplement" from Taiwan was refused entry into the United States and considered dangerous. In this instance, the FDA defined "dangerous" in these terms: "The article appears to be dangerous to health when used in the dosage or manner, or with the frequency or duration, prescribed, recommended, or suggested in the labeling thereof."

Practitioners of TCM state that pregnant women should not use cicada because of the risk of miscarriage.

Side Effects

No side effects from cicada preparations have been reported in the United States as of early 2004.

Interactions

As of 2004, cicada decoctions have not been reported to interact with any Western prescription medications.

Resources

Books

Bensky, Dan, and Andrew Gamble. Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica. rev. ed. Seattle: Eastland Press, 1993.

Kang-Ying, Wong, and Martha Dahlen. "Cicada." In Streetwise Guide to Chinese Herbal Medicine. San Francisco: China Bks. & Periodicals, Inc., 1996.

Molony, David. The American Association of Oriental Medicine's Complete Guide to Chinese Herbal Medicine. New York: The Philip Lief Group, 1998.

Reid, Daniel P. Chinese Herbal Medicine. Boston: Shambhala, 1993.

Williams, Tom. The Complete Illustrated Guide to Chinese Medicine: A Comprehensive System for Health and Fitness. Boston: Element Books, Inc., 1996.

Periodicals

Hsieh, M.T., W.H. Peng, F.T. Yeh, et al. "Studies of the Anti-convulsive, Sedative and Hypothermic effects of Periostracum Cicadae Extracts." J Ethnopharmacology 35 (January 1991): 83–90.

Riegel, Garland. "Cicada in Chinese Folklore." Cultural Entomology Digest 3 (November 1994). .

Organizations

American Foundation of Traditional Chinese Medicine. 505 Beach Street, San Francisco, CA 94133. (415) 776-0502.

American Herbal Products Association. 8484 Georgia Ave., Suite 370, Silver Spring, MD 20910. (301) 588-1174. .

Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857. (888) 463-6332. .

National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. NCCAM Clearinghouse, National Institute of Health, P.O. Box 8218, Silver Spring, MD 20907-8218. (888) 644-6226. Fax: (301) 495-4957. .

National Oriental Medicine Accreditation Agency (NOMAA). 3445 Pacific Coast Highway, Suite 300, Torrance, CA 90505. (213) 820-2045. .

Other

Food and Drug Administration (FDA). "Refusal Actions by FDA as Recorded in OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards), Taiwan, Republic of China." Rockville, MD: FDA, June 2003. .

[Article by: Rebecca J. Frey, PhD]

For other uses, see Cicada (disambiguation).

This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2007)

Cicada

Annual cicada, Tibicen linnei
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hemiptera
Suborder:	Auchenorrhyncha
Infraorder:	Cicadomorpha
Superfamily:	Cicadoidea
Family:	Cicadidae Westwood, 1840
Subfamilies
Cicadettinae Cicadinae Tettigadinae Tibiceninae See also article text.

A cicada (pronounced /sɪˈkɑːdə/ or pronounced /sɪˈkeɪdə/) is an insect of the order Hemiptera, suborder Auchenorrhyncha, in the superfamily Cicadoidea, with large eyes wide apart on the head and usually transparent, well-veined wings. There are about 2,500 species of cicada around the world, and many remain unclassified. Cicadas live in temperate to tropical climates where they are among the most widely recognized of all insects, mainly due to their large size and remarkable acoustic talents. Cicadas are sometimes colloquially called "locusts",^[1] although they are unrelated to true locusts, which are a kind of grasshopper. They are also known as "jar flies". Cicadas are related to leafhoppers and spittlebugs. In parts of the southern Appalachian Mountains in the United States, they are known as "dry flies" because of the dry shell that they leave behind.

Cicadas are benign to humans and do not bite or sting, but can cause damage to several cultivated crops, shrubs, and trees.^[2]^[3] Many people around the world regularly eat cicadas; the female is prized, as it is meatier. Cicadas have been (or are still) eaten in Ancient Greece, China, Malaysia, Burma, Latin America, and the Congo. Shells of cicadas are employed in the traditional medicines of China.^[4]

The name is a direct derivation of the Latin cicada, meaning "buzzer". In classical Greek, it was called a tettix, and in modern Greek tzitzikas—both names being onomatopoeic.

1 Taxonomy
2 Description
3 Cicada song
4 Life cycle
5 Predation
6 Cicadas in Australia
7 Symbolism
8 Culinary use
9 Genera
10 Gallery
11 References
12 Further reading
13 External links

Taxonomy

Cicada found in Chicago, Illinois, USA, June 2007

Cicadas are arranged into two families: Tettigarctidae (q.v.) and Cicadidae. There are two extant species of Tettigarctidae, one in southern Australia, and the other in Tasmania. The family Cicadidae is subdivided into the subfamilies Tettigadinae, Cicadinae, and Cicadettinae, and they exist on all continents except Antarctica.

17-year cicada, or magicicada

The largest cicadas are in the genera Pomponia and Tacua. There are some 200 species in 38 genera in Australia, about 450 in Africa, about 100 in the Palaearctic, and exactly one species in England, the New Forest cicada, Melampsalta montana, widely distributed throughout Europe. There are about 150 species in South Africa.

Most of the North American species are in the genus Tibicen: the annual or dog-day cicadas (so named because they emerge in late July and August ^[1] ). The best-known North American genus is Magicicada, however. These periodical cicadas have an extremely long life cycle of 13 to 17 years and emerge in large numbers.^[1] Another American species is the Apache cicada, Diceroprocta apache.

Australian cicadas will differ from many other types because of that continent's diversity of climate and terrain. In Australia, cicadas are found on tropical islands and cold coastal beaches around Tasmania; in tropical wetlands; high and low deserts; alpine areas of New South Wales and Victoria; large cities like Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane; and Tasmanian highlands and snowfields.

Thirty-eight species from five genera populate New Zealand, and all are endemic to New Zealand and the surrounding islands (Norfolk Island, New Caledonia). Many New Zealand cicada species differ from those of other countries by being found high up on mountain tops.

Description

The adult insect, sometimes called an imago, is usually 2 to 5 cm (1 to 2 in) long, although some tropical species can reach 15 cm (6 in), e.g. Pomponia imperatoria from Malaysia. Cicadas have prominent eyes set wide apart on the sides of the head, short antennae protruding between or in front of the eyes, and membranous front wings. Also, commonly overlooked, cicadas have 3 small eyes located on the top of the head between the two large eyes that match the color of the large eyes, giving them a total of five eyes. Desert cicadas are also among the few insects known to cool themselves by sweating,^[5] while many other cicadas can voluntarily raise their body temperatures as much as 22 °C (72 °F) above ambient temperature.^[6]

Cicada song

The sound of a cicada in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, recorded in mid-February 2006

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Cicadas in Greece

The sound of a tree full of Cicadas in Ithaca, Greece. Recorded July 2008

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Male cicadas have loud noisemakers called "timbals" on the sides of the abdominal base. Their "singing" is not the stridulation (where two structures are rubbed against one another) of many other familiar sound-producing insects like crickets: the timbals are regions of the exoskeleton that are modified to form a complex membrane with thin, membranous portions and thickened "ribs". Contracting the internal timbal muscles produces a clicking sound as the timbals buckle inwards. As these muscles relax, the timbals return to their original position producing another click. The interior of the male abdomen is substantially hollow to amplify the resonance of the sound. A cicada rapidly vibrates these membranes, and enlarged chambers derived from the tracheae make its body serve as a resonance chamber, greatly amplifying the sound. They modulate their noise by wiggling their abdomens toward and away from the tree that they are on. Additionally, each species has its own distinctive song.^[1]

Average temperature of the natural habitat for this species is approximately 29 °C (84 °F). During sound production the temperature of the tymbal muscles were found to be slightly higher.^[7] Cicadas like heat and do their most spirited singing during the hotter hours of a summer day. Although only males produce the cicadas' distinctive sound, both sexes have tympana, which are membranous structures used to detect sounds and thus the cicadas' equivalent of ears. Males can disable their own tympana while calling.^[8]

Some cicadas produce sounds up to 120 dB (SPL)^[8] "at close range", among the loudest of all insect-produced sounds.^[9] Conversely, some small species have songs so high in pitch that the noise is inaudible to humans.^[10] Species have different mating songs to ensure they attract the appropriate mate. It can be difficult to determine which direction(s) cicada song is coming from, because the low pitch carries well and because it may, in fact, be coming from many directions at once, as cicadas in various trees all make noise at once.

In addition to the mating song, many species also have a distinct distress call, usually a somewhat broken and erratic sound emitted when an individual is seized. A number of species also have a courtship song, which is often a quieter call and is produced after a female has been drawn by the calling song.

Life cycle

Time sequence photos of a Tibicen dog day cicada molting in Ohio, US

Discarded cicada skin

After mating, the female cuts slits into the bark of a twig, and into these she deposits her eggs. She may do so repeatedly, until she has laid several hundred eggs. When the eggs hatch, the newborn nymphs drop to the ground, where they burrow. Most cicadas go through a life cycle that lasts from two to five years. Some species have much longer life cycles, such as the North American genus, Magicicada, which has a number of distinct "broods" that go through either a 17-year or, in the South of the USA, a 13-year life cycle. These long life cycles both happen to be prime numbers, perhaps developed as a response to predators such as the cicada killer wasp and praying mantis.^[11]^[12]^[13] A predator with a shorter life cycle of at least 2 years could not reliably prey upon the cicadas.^[14]

Cicadas live underground as nymphs for most of their lives, at depths ranging from about 30 cm (1 ft) up to 2.5 m (about 8½ ft). The nymphs feed on root juice and have strong front legs for digging.

In the final nymphal instar, they construct an exit tunnel to the surface and emerge. They then molt (shed their skins), on a nearby plant for the last time and emerge as adults. The abandoned skins remain, still clinging to the bark of trees.

Predation

Cicadas are commonly eaten by birds, but Massospora cicadina (a fungal disease) is the biggest enemy of cicadas. Another known predator is the cicada killer wasp.

In eastern Australia, the native freshwater fish Australian bass are keen predators of cicadas that crash-land on the surface of streams.

Some species of cicada also have an unusual defense mechanism to protect themselves from predation, known as predator satiation: by many emerging at once, whereas there are no cidadas around for much of the year, essentially, the number of cicadas in any given area exceeds the amount predators can eat; all available predators are thus satiated, and the remaining cicadas can breed in peace.

Cicadas in Australia

The Australian "Red Eye" cicada

Around 220 cicada species have been identified in Australia, many of which go by fanciful common names such as: cherry nose, brown baker, red eye (Psaltoda moerens), green grocer/green Monday,^[15] yellow Monday, whisky drinker, Double drummer (Thopha saccata), and black prince. The Australian green grocer, Cyclochila australasiae, is amongst the loudest insects in the world.^[16]

Being principally tropical insects, most Australian species are found in the northern states. However, cicadas occur in almost every part of Australia: the hot wet tropical north; Tasmanian snowfields; Victorian beaches and sand dunes such as Torquay and deserts. According to Max Moulds of the Australian Museum in Sydney: "the 'green grocer' is unusual in its ability to adapt perfectly to the urbanized environment."^{[citation needed]} Cicada sounds are a defining quality of Melbourne, Sydney, and Canberra during late spring and the summer months.

Australian green grocer cicada

Cicadas inhabit both native and exotic plants including tall trees, coastal mangroves, suburban lawns, and desert shrubbery. The great variety of flora and climatic variation found in north-eastern Queensland results in its being the richest region for the spread of different species. The area of greatest species diversity is a 100 km (60 mi) wide region around Cairns. In some areas they are preyed on by the cicada-hunter (Exeirus lateritius) which stings and stuns cicadas high in the trees, making them drop to the ground where the cicada-hunter mounts and rides them, pushing with its hind-legs, sometimes over a distance of a hundred meters, till they can be shoved down into its burrow, where the numb cicada is placed onto one of many shelves in a 'catacomb', to form the food-stock for the wasp grub that grows out of the egg deposited there.^[17]

Symbolism

In France, the cicada is used to represent the folklore of Provence and Mediterranean cities (although some species live in Alsace or the Paris Basin).^[18]

In the Ancient Greek myth, Tithonus eventually turns into a cicada after being granted immortality but not eternal youth by Zeus.

A summer insect (at least in temperate countries), the cicada has represented insouciance (i.e. nonchalance or indifference) since classical antiquity. Jean de La Fontaine began his collection of fables Les fables de La Fontaine with the story La Cigale et la Fourmi (The Cicada and the Ant) based on one of Aesop's fables: in it the cicada spends the summer singing while the ant stores away food, and finds herself without food when the weather turns bitter.^[19] Cicada songs are regularly used in Japanese anime to indicate that a scene is taking place in the summer.^{[citation needed]}

In the Japanese novel The Tale of Genji, the title character poetically likens one of his many love interests to a cicada for the way she delicately sheds her scarf the way a cicada sheds its shell when molting. They are also a frequent subject of haiku, where, depending on type, they can indicate spring, summer, or fall.^[20]

In China the phrase 'to shed off the golden cicada skin' is the poetic name of the tactic of using deception to escape danger, specifically of using decoys (leaving the old shell) to fool enemies. It became one of the 36 classic Chinese strategems. In the Chinese classic Journey to the West, the protagonist Priest of Tang was named the Golden Cicada; in this context the multiple shedding of shell of the cicada symbolizes the many stages of transformation required of a person before all illusions have been broken and one reaches enlightenment.

In 2004, "cicada" ranked 6th in Merriam-Webster's Words of the Year.

Culinary use

Cicadas have been eaten in China, Malaysia, Burma, Latin America, the Congo and even in the United States. In North China, cicadas are skewered or stir fried as a delicacy.

Genera

Abagazara
Abricta
Abroma
Adeniana
Aestuansella
Ahomana
Akamba
Albanycada
Aleeta
Amphipsalta
Anapsaltodea
Arcystasia
Arenopsaltria
Arfaka
Arunta
Auta
Azanicada
Babras
Baeturia
Bavea
Beameria
Bijaurana
Birrima
Brevisiana
Burbunga
Buyisa
Cacama
Calopsaltria
Calyria
Capcicada
Carineta
Chinaria
Chlorocysta
Chonosia
Chrysocicada
Cicada
Cicadatra
Cicadetta
Cicadivetta
Clidophleps
Coata
Conibosa
Cornuplura

Crassisternata
Cyclochila
Cystopsaltria
Cystosoma
Daza
Decebalus
Derotettix
Diceroprocta
Diceropyga
Diemeniana
Dinarobia
Dorachosa
Dulderana
Durangona
Elachysoma
Euryphara
Fidicina
Fractuosella
Froggattoides
Gazuma
Glaucopsaltria
Graptotettix
Guaranisaria
Gudanga
Guineapsaltria
Gymnotympana
Hemidictya
Henicopsaltria
Henicotettix
Herrera
Higurashi
Hilaphura
Hovana
Huechys
Hylora
Illyria
Imbabura

Inyamana
Ioba
Iruana
Jacatra
Jafuna
Jassopsaltria
Jiraiya
Kanakia
Karenia
Katoa
Kikihia
Klapperichicen
Kobonga
Koma
Kongota
Koranna
Kumanga
Lacetas
Lembeja
Lemuriana
Leptopsalta
Ligymolpa
Lisu
Luangwana
Lycurgus
Lyristes
Macrotristria
Magicicada
Malagasia
Malgachialna
Malgotilia
Maoricicada
Mapondera
Mardalana
Marteena
Masupha
Mauricia

Melampsalta
Mendozana
Monomatapa
Mouia
Muda
Musimoia
Musoda
Munza
Nablistes
Nelcynadana
Neocicada
Neomuda
Neoplatypedia
Nosola
Notopsalta
Novemcella
Okanagana
Okanagodes
Orapa
Oudeboschia
Owra
Oxypleura
Pacarina
Paectira
Pagiphora
Paharia
Panka
Paragudanga
Paranistria
Parnisa
Parnkalla
Parvittya

Pauropsalta
Pinheya
Platypedia
Platypleura
Plautilia
Pomponia
Prasia
Procollina
Prosotettix
Prunasis
Psallodia
Psaltoda
Psilotympana
Pycna
Quesada
Quintilia
Rhinopsalta
Rhodopsalta
Sapantanga
Saticula
Scieroptera
Selymbria
Severiana
Sinosena
Soudaniella
Spoerryana
Stagea
Stagina
Stellenboschia
Subpsaltr
Systophlochius
Tacua
Taipinga
Takapsalta
Tamasa
Taphura
Tanna
Tettigades
Tettigarcta

Tettigetta
Tettigomyia
Tettigotoma
Thaumastopsaltria
Thopha
Tibicen
Tibicina
Tibicinoides
Toxopeusella
Trismarcha
Tryella
Tugelana
Tympanistalna
Ueana
Urabunana
Venustria
Viettealna
Xosopsaltria
Xossarella
Zammara
Zouga

Diemeniana frenchi, an Australian species

A pair of Greek cicadas

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Gallery

Tibicen canicularis molting	Higurashi (蜩^?) - Tanna japonensis in Japan	Tibicen canicularis sitting on a leaf in Munster Hamlet, Ontario	Aburazemi – Gratopsaltria nigrofuscata	Magicicadas molting
Cicadas are commonly found in south eastern Australia.	Magicicada nymph	Newly molted Magicicada Brood XIII	A cicada in the process of molting	Exit tunnels of cicada in Japan
Spotted cicada	A cicada in a tree	Freshly molted Magicicada in northern Illinois	Cicadas on an address sign, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin	Adult cicada on car tire, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
Empty nymph shells in tree, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin	A photograph of a cicada in the southwest suburbs of Chicago, Illinois	Putative cicada in Elena Gallegos park, Albuquerque, New Mexico	Emerging Tibicen chloromera (now renamed Tibicen tibicen), Metuchen, New Jersey	Molting cicada, Tevose, Pennsylvania
Cicada on brick house, Latrobe, Pennsylvania	Cicada after molting, Atlantic Forest, Brazil	Cicada, Moonbi, Northern New South Wales, Australia	Platypleura kaempferi (ニイニイゼミ, Niiniizemi^?) Chiba, Japan	Cicada in Okinawa, Japan
Cicada Skin on bush leaf Tokyo, Japan

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Lorus Milne and Margery Milne, The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Insects and Spiders (New York: Alfred A Knopf, 1992).
^ The Cicadas Are Coming, The Cicadas Are Coming Ohio State University. 04/27/2004
^ "Periodical Cicadas, Life Cycles & Behavior". Bugs.osu.edu. http://bugs.osu.edu/~bugdoc/PerioCicada/PeriCicadaBehav.htm. Retrieved 2009-09-20.
^ Li Shizhen, Bencao Gangmu, Section of Insect. 李时珍, 本草纲目, 虫部
^ Hadley NF, Quinlan MC, Kennedy ML (01 Sep 1991). "Evaporative cooling in the desert cicada: thermal efficiency and water/metabolic costs". Journal of Experimental Biology 159 (1): 269–283. http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/reprint/159/1/269.
^ Sanborn AF, Villet MH, Phillips PK (2003). "Hot-blooded singers: endothermy facilitates crepuscular signaling in African platypleurine cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Platypleura spp.)". Naturwissenschaften 90 (7): 305–8. doi:10.1007/s00114-003-0428-1. PMID 12883772.
^ Aidley, D.J., White, D.C.S. 1969. "Mechanical Properties of Glycerinated Fibers from the Tymbal muscles of Brazilian Cicada". J Physiol 205:179–192
^ ^a ^b 50/50 - SA's top environment TV programme^{[dead link]}
^ "The Summer of Singing Cicadas". The writer does not explain what "close range" means.
^ "Insecteducation.com". Insecteducation.com. 2008-09-09. http://www.insecteducation.com/tag/arthropoda. Retrieved 2009-09-20.
^ Haga, Enoch, chapter 6, Eratosthenes goes bugs! (fig. 8, table 9), Exploring Prime Numbers on Your PC and the Internet, Enoch Haga Publisher, pp. 71–80, editions 1994–2007, LCCN 2007900755, ISBN 978-1-885794-24-6
^ Haga, Enoch, Sequence A161664, Safe periods for the emergence of cicada species on prime number cycles, in N. J. A. Sloane (Ed.), The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences (2009).
^ "Scanjet image of 7-petal flower from Jade plant approximately 25 years or more years old in Livermore, CA". Commons.wikimedia.org. http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:7petalJade.jpg. Retrieved 2009-09-20.
^ Dawkins, Richard (1986). The Blind Watchmaker. Norton. p. 100. ISBN 0-393-31570-3.
^ Earliest known usage in 1896^{[citation needed]}
^ "Cicadas". Australian Museum. http://www.amonline.net.au/factsheets/cicada.htm. Retrieved 2007-12-05.
^ P. Tillyard, The Insects of Australia and New Zealand (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1926) pp. 298–99.
^ notreprovence.fr: la cigale, emblème de la Provence^{[dead link]}
^ La Fontaine, fabuleusement inspiré par Esope - Un autre regard sur la Grèce^{[dead link]}
^ Haiku topical dictionary entry on cicadas.

External links

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cicada

Contents

Taxonomy

Description

Cicada song

Life cycle

Predation

Cicadas in Australia

Symbolism

Culinary use

Genera

Gallery

References

Further reading

External links