Advertisement.

EnchantedLearning.com is a user-supported site.
As a bonus, site members have access to a banner-ad-free version of the site, with print-friendly pages.
Click here to learn more.

ad
(Already a member? Click here.)


Our subscribers' grade-level estimate for this page: 3rd - 4th

Cicada Printout
More on Insects
EnchantedLearning.com
Cicada
Animal Printouts
Label Me! Printouts

cicada anatomy

This is a thumbnail of the cicada anatomy diagram. The full-size printout is available only to site members.

To subscribe to Enchanted Learning, click here.

If you are already a site member, click here.


The cicada is a large-bodied, dark-colored, flying insect with four long, transparent wings and large eyes. When at rest, the cicada holds the wings peaked over the body like a tent. Cicadas are not locusts (locusts are a type of grasshopper). Cicadas can damage twigs when eggs are laid in the twig (unlike locusts and grasshoppers who damage plants by defoliation - leaf eating). Cicadas neither sting nor bite.

Noise: Males make a shrill, buzzing call by vibrating two drum-like membranes (called tymbals) covering hollow chambers on the abdomen using muscles (females do not make this noise) - they usually do this while perching high up in trees. (This is unlike grasshoppers, who make noise by rubbing their back legs together.) Male cicadas call to attract females. The loudest insect in the world is the African cicada (Brevisana brevis); it regularly produces sounds at 106.7 dB at a distance of 50 cm (this is about as loud as a power saw).

Diet: Cicadas eat plant sap while in their long juvenile (nymph) stage.

Anatomy: Like all insects, the cicada has three body parts (the head, thorax and abdomen), two large, compound eyes, clear wings, and six jointed legs. They breathe through 10 pairs of spiracles, 2 located on the thorax and 8 located on the abdomen. The antennae are short and bristly. Adult cicadas range in size from 1 to 2 inches (2.5 - 5 cm) long.

Life cycle: The cicada has the longest life cycle of any insect, ranging from 2 to 17 years.

cicada life cycle

This is a thumbnail of the cicada life cycle diagram. The full-size printout is available only to site members.

To subscribe to Enchanted Learning, click here.

If you are already a site member, click here.


Classification: Kingdom Animalia (animals), Class Insecta (insects), Order Homoptera (aphids, cicadas), Family Cicadidae (all cicadas), many Genera, including Genus Magicicada (long period, red-eyed cicadas - with a 13 or 17 year life cycle) and Genus Tibicen (dog-day cicada -- with a 2 to 5 year year life cycle).

Related Pages:
cicada life cycle

Cicada Sequencing Cards

Put the cicada life cycle cards in order, from egg to adult.
cicada

Cicada Printout - Simple Version

A coloring printout picturing the life cycle of the cicada.
cicada

Cicada Printout

Cicadas are flying insects that emerge periodically and simultaneously.


Cicada Book

A short book about the life cycle of the cicada to print (for early readers).


Cicada

Label the anatomy and life stages of the Cicada.
Answers



Enchanted Learning®
Over 35,000 Web Pages
Sample Pages for Prospective Subscribers, or click below

Overview of Site
What's New
Enchanted Learning Home
Monthly Activity Calendar
Books to Print
Site Index

K-3
Crafts
K-3 Themes
Little Explorers
Picture dictionary
PreK/K Activities
Rebus Rhymes
Stories
Writing
Cloze Activities
Essay Topics
Newspaper
Writing Activities
Parts of Speech

Fiction
The Test of Time

Biology
Animal Printouts
Biology Label Printouts
Biomes
Birds
Butterflies
Dinosaurs
Food Chain
Human Anatomy
Mammals
Plants
Rainforests
Sharks
Whales
Physical Sciences: K-12
Astronomy
The Earth
Geology
Hurricanes
Landforms
Oceans
Tsunami
Volcano
Languages
Dutch
French
German
Italian
Japanese (Romaji)
Portuguese
Spanish
Swedish
Geography/History
Explorers
Flags
Geography
Inventors
US History

Other Topics
Art and Artists
Calendars
College Finder
Crafts
Graphic Organizers
Label Me! Printouts
Math
Music
Word Wheels

Click to read our Privacy Policy

E-mail


Enchanted Learning Search

Search the Enchanted Learning website for:



Advertisement.

Advertisement.



Copyright ©2004-2018 EnchantedLearning.com ------ How to cite a web page