Litinsects

From <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicada> © Bruce Marlin Litinsects #23: Cicadas When I was a kid, I once found this crazy looking thing attached to a tree in my yard and I kept it because I was so fascinated. It wasn’t until a decade later that I realized what that thing had actually been... the exoskeleton of a cicada. Cicadas might be a pain because of the deafening noise they can make but they are really interesting and cool-looking insects. Cicada calls are produced by TYMBALS, which are complex structures on the abdomen with membranes and thickened ribs. The membranes vibrate extremely quickly and the cicada’s body acts as a resonance chamber to amplify calls The calls are so LOUD that males disable their own tympana (remember, insect ears?) so that they don’t damage them. At close enough range, they can actually damage human hearing! ANNUAL CICADAS appear every year. Most species spend years underground during their nymphal stages but there is no s...