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Members of a family of insects, cicadas have a stout body, wide blunt head, two pairs of transparent wings, prominent compound eyes, and three simple eyes. Most of the 1,500 known species are found in tropical deserts, grasslands, and forests. Males produce loud noises by vibrating membranes near the base of the abdomen. Most North. American cicadas produce rhythmical ticks, buzzes, or whines, though the "song" of some species is musical. Periodic cicadas, including the well-known 17-year cicada (often erroneously called the 17-year locust) and 13-year cicada appear in regular cycles. Their larvae burrow into the ground, where they remain for 13 or 17 years, feeding on juices sucked from roots. Then they emerge in large numbers to live aboveground as adults for a single week.
Examples of cicada in a Sentence
Olivia Munson, USA TODAY, 13 Apr. 2024
There are two adjacent broods of cicadas that will be emerging at the same time.
—Solcyré Burga, TIME, 12 Apr. 2024
Cicadas Billions of cicadas are set to surface in a matter of weeks as two different broods — one that appears every 13 years, and another every 17 years — emerge simultaneously.
—Alexandra Banner, CNN, 11 Apr. 2024
The cicadas are coming: What to expect from the double brood emergence of trillions of breeding, singing bugs
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona has the ability to designate provisions for early implementation of these plans, per a senior administration official.
—Arthur Jones Ii, ABC News, 8 Apr. 2024
David Mordini populates a former office with oversize plastic cicadas that gawk at passersby through big red or orange eyes as insect pitches emerge from a soundtrack by the late Barry Schmetter.
—Mark Jenkins, Washington Post, 5 Apr. 2024
What are the symptoms of an adverse reaction to cicadas?
—Kelli Bender, Peoplemag, 21 Mar. 2024
Then come the mayfly and cicada hatches, when droves of insects suddenly appear in areas and create additional feeding opportunities for bass.
—Shaye Baker, Field & Stream, 6 Mar. 2024
Here's what to know about the two broods of cicadas gearing up to return above ground this May.
—USA TODAY, 20 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cicada.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Cicada.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cicada. Accessed 17 Apr. 2024.
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