Magicicada septendecim: usually 17 years, but can live 13-22 years.Here is the cicada life span of some of the most common cicadas on each continent: North America Depending on the type of cicada, they can live for a total of 1-21 years. However, this estimate is not set-in-stone. Like I covered above, most annual cicadas live between 2-5 years, while periodical cicadas live for about 17 years. Why Have They Evolved This Way?ĬC BY 2.0 / Jean and Fred Hort / When they do emerge, predators won’t be prepared for it, leaving the cicadas with a better chance. This evolved strategy helps ensure their survival because predators do not become dependent on them. However, there are some years where we will see a surge of cicadas, and other years where we won’t see them at all. This is why they’re called “annual” cicadas despite the individual cicadas only emerging once in their lifetime. Generally, batches of annual cicadas emerge every year. There are different populations of cicadas that lay eggs and emerge during different years - this is called a “brood cycle”.īrood cycles will overlap so that generally, there will be some cicadas emerging every year while some stay underground and mature. Just because these cicadas only emerge every 17 years doesn’t mean that you’ll only see them every 17 years. So many periodical cicadas can emerge from the ground at once that up to 1.5 million cicadas can fit inside just one acre of land. Some years, certain areas may seem overrun by the sheer number of cicadas and the noise that they make. Periodicals hatch in massive numbers, which is why so many people dread their coming. However, there is another difference between the two kinds of cicadas. Periodical cicadas live underground for 17 years before they become adults - or imagoes - and emerge from the ground. The main difference between periodical and annual cicadas is the amount of time they stay underground before reaching adulthood.
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