{"id":5510,"date":"2017-08-13T12:09:14","date_gmt":"2017-08-13T19:09:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cicadamania.com\/cicadas\/?p=5510"},"modified":"2024-05-12T12:02:16","modified_gmt":"2024-05-12T19:02:16","slug":"how-long-do-cicadas-live","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cicadamania.com\/cicadas\/how-long-do-cicadas-live\/","title":{"rendered":"How long do cicadas live? Longest life cycle?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Which cicada has the longest life cycle?<\/p>\n<p>The most famous cicadas &#8212; North American periodical cicadas &#8212; typically live 17 or 13 years. These cicadas only represent about 0.2% of all cicadas, most of which live shorter lives. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/cicadas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Magicicada_septendecim_Jim_Thorpe.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cicadamania.com\/cicadas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Magicicada_septendecim_Jim_Thorpe-300x168.jpg\" alt=\"Magicicada septendecim cicadas live 17 years.\" width=\"300\" height=\"168\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-11301\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cicadamania.com\/cicadas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Magicicada_septendecim_Jim_Thorpe-300x168.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.cicadamania.com\/cicadas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Magicicada_septendecim_Jim_Thorpe.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><br \/><small>Magicicada septendecim cicadas live 17 years.<\/small><\/p>\n<h2>Cicada Life Spans:<\/h2>\n<p>Cicada life spans (life cycle length) vary from <strong>one year<\/strong> to as many as<strong> 21<\/strong>, depending on the species. Cicadas like <em>Myopsalta crucifera<\/em> and <em>Parnkalla muelleri<\/em> of Australia have one-year life cycles<sup>6<\/sup>. <em>Magicicada septendecim<\/em>, <em>M. cassini<\/em> and <em>M. septendecula<\/em>, of the United States, can live as long as 21 years (read <a href=\"\/cicadas\/what-are-stragglers\/\">What are Stragglers?<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>Some life spans for well-known cicadas:<\/p>\n<ul><strong>North America:<\/strong><\/p>\n<li><em>Magicicada septendecim, M. cassini and, M. septendecula<\/em>: <strong>13 to 22<\/strong><sup>10<\/sup>, but typically <strong>17<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><em>Magicicada tredecim, M. neotredecim, M. tredecassini, and M. tredecula<\/em>: <strong>9 to 17<\/strong>, but typically <strong>13<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><em>Diceroprocta apache<\/em>: <strong>2-5<\/strong>, but typically <strong>3-4<\/strong> years<sup>1<\/sup>.<\/li>\n<li><em>Neotibicen and Megatibicen genera<\/em>: <strong>2-7<\/strong> years<sup>2<\/sup>.<\/li>\n<li><em>Okanagana rimosa<\/em>: <strong>9<\/strong> years<sup>3<\/sup>.<\/li>\n<li><em>Okanagana synodica<\/em>: possibly <strong>17 to 19<\/strong> years.<sup>5<\/sup><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul><strong>Australia:<\/strong><\/p>\n<li><em>Cyclochila australasiae<\/em>: <strong>6-7<\/strong>. <sup>6<\/sup><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul><strong>India:<\/strong><\/p>\n<li><em>Chremistica ribhoi<\/em>: <strong>4<\/strong>. <sup>7<\/sup><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul><strong>Japan:<\/strong><\/p>\n<li><em>Hyalessa maculaticollis<\/em>: <strong>2-5<\/strong>, but typically <strong>3<\/strong>. <sup>8<\/sup><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul><strong>New Zealand:<\/strong><\/p>\n<li><em>Amphipsalta zealandica:<\/em> <strong>3-4<\/strong>, but typically <strong>4<\/strong>. <sup>9<\/sup><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Table 3 of the paper <strong>Genome Expansion via Lineage Splitting and Genome Reduction in the Cicada Endosymbiont Hodgkinia<\/strong> (Campbell et al, 2015) contains <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pnas.org\/content\/suppl\/2015\/05\/16\/1421386112.DCSupplemental\/pnas.201421386SI.pdf\">a large table of cicada life cycle lengths<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Annual, Periodical, or Protoperiodical<\/h2>\n<p>Most cicadas appear on an <strong>annual<\/strong> basis, meaning that every year adults will appear. <\/p>\n<p>It is common for many species to be <strong>Protoperiodical<\/strong> as well, meaning that some years will see an abundance of adults, while other years there will be a limited number of that species. Okanagana rimosa, in particular, are Protoperiodical <sup>9<\/sup>.<\/p>\n<p>Some species, like the Magicicada species and Chremistica ribhoi, appear on a <strong>periodic<\/strong> basis, meaning that after a specific number of years almost all adults of the species will emerge.<\/p>\n<h2>Life Expectancy<\/h2>\n<p>Although many cicadas have long life cycles, not many of them make it to adulthood. Nymphal mortality of Magicicada can reach 98% in the first 2 years <sup>4<\/sup>. Imagine if all those cicadas made it to adulthood. 50 times more cicadas! Unfortunately, that isn&#8217;t the case.<\/p>\n<p>Magicicada is just one genus of cicadas (representing about 0.2% of all species), but I have to think that most cicadas, regardless of species, will never make it to adulthood.<\/p>\n<h2>How long do cicadas live as adults?<\/h2>\n<p>Short answer: about a month. <\/p>\n<p>How long a cicada lives as an adult depends on the species, but the answer could be from a matter of seconds, if the cicada dies due to predation or an accident, to more than a month. Cicadas are primarily subterranean plant (mostly tree) parasites and only enter their above-ground, adult form to mate\/reproduce. <\/p>\n<p>A particular species of cicada, like <a href=\"\/cicadas\/neotibicen-tibicen-tibicen-linnaeus-1758-aka-morning-cicada\/\">Neotibicen tibicen tibicen<\/a>, might appear to last for two or three months, because their song can be heard for that length of time, but that&#8217;s likely because they emerge over a month, not all on the same day, extending the length of time their species is present above ground. <\/p>\n<p>No matter what the species, adult cicadas perish within a season or two, and do not live multiple years in their adult form, like other types of insects. They won&#8217;t try to move inside your house once winter approaches to find warmth and shelter. <\/p>\n<h2>References<\/h2>\n<p><sup>1<\/sup> Aaron R. Ellingson, Douglas C. Andersen and Boris C. Kondratieff (2002) <strong>Observations of the Larval Stages of Diceroprocta apache Davis (Homoptera: Tibicinidae)<\/strong>, , <em>Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society<\/em>, Vol. 75, No. 4, pp. 283-289. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/25481788?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents\">Link<\/a>.<br \/>\n<sup>2<\/sup> Richard Fox, <strong>Tibicen spp<\/strong>, (2001) <a href=\"http:\/\/lanwebs.lander.edu\/faculty\/rsfox\/invertebrates\/tibicen.html\">http:\/\/lanwebs.lander.edu\/faculty\/rsfox\/invertebrates\/tibicen.html<\/a><br \/>\n<sup>3<\/sup> Soper RS, Delyzer AJ, &#038; Smith LFR (1976) <strong>The genus Massospora entomopathogenic for cicadas. Part II. Biology of Massospora levispora and its host Okanagana rimosa, with notes on Massospora cicadina and the periodical cicadas<\/strong>. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 69(1):89-95.<br \/>\n<sup>4<\/sup> Karban R. 1984. <strong>Opposite density effects of nymphal and adult mortality for periodical cicadas.<\/strong> Ecology 65: 1656-61.<br \/>\n<sup>5<\/sup> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pnas.org\/content\/suppl\/2015\/05\/16\/1421386112.DCSupplemental\/pnas.201421386SI.pdf\">Campbell et al. 10.1073\/pnas.1421386112<\/a>.<br \/>\n<sup>6<\/sup> Moulds MS (1990) <strong>Australian Cicadas<\/strong> (New South Wales University Press, Kensington, NSW, Australia).<br \/>\n<sup>7<\/sup> Hajong SR &#038; Yaakop S (2013) <strong>Chremistica ribhoi sp. n. (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) from North-East India and its mass emergence.<\/strong> Zootaxa 3702(5):493.<br \/>\n<sup>8<\/sup> Logan DP, Rowe CA, &#038; Maher BJ (2014) <strong>Life history of chorus cicada, an endemic pest of kiwifruit (Cicadidae: Homoptera)<\/strong>. New Zealand Entomologist:1-11.<br \/>\n<sup>9<\/sup> Kathy Williams &#038; Chris Simon, <strong>The Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution of Periodical Cicadas<\/strong>, (1995), Annu.Rev. Entomol. 40:269-95.<br \/>\n<sup>10<\/sup> David C. Marshall, John R. Cooley, and Kathy Hill, Developmental Plasticity of Life-Cycle Length in Thirteen-Year Periodical Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae), <em>Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am.<\/em> 104(3): 443\u00c3\u0090450 (2011)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Which cicada has the longest life cycle? The most famous cicadas &#8212; North American periodical cicadas &#8212; typically live 17 or 13 years. These cicadas only represent about 0.2% of all cicadas, most of which live shorter lives. Magicicada septendecim cicadas live 17 years. Cicada Life Spans: Cicada life spans (life cycle length) vary from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[281,164],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faqs","category-life-cycle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cicadamania.com\/cicadas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cicadamania.com\/cicadas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cicadamania.com\/cicadas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cicadamania.com\/cicadas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cicadamania.com\/cicadas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cicadamania.com\/cicadas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5510\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cicadamania.com\/cicadas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cicadamania.com\/cicadas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cicadamania.com\/cicadas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}