Cicada is the popular and generic name of certain insects belonging to the order Hemiptera, sub-order Homoptera, of many species. The males have on each side of the body a kind of drum, with which they can make a considerable noise. This, regarded as the insect's song, was much admired by the ancients, and is frequently referred to by their poets. The largest European species are about an inch long, but some American species are much larger, and can be heard a mile off. They are nearly all natives of tropical or warm temperate regions. The female has the posterior extremity of the abdomen furnished with two serrated horny plates, by means of which it pierces the branches of trees to deposit its eggs. An English species (Cicada anglica) is found in the New Forest. The seven years' locust (Cicada septemdecim) is well known in the United States. Research Cicada
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Cicada
