In the Australian bush the shrill, ear-piercing call of cicadas filling the air is synonymous with summer. This is the shell of a newly emerged cicada nymph which may have lived underground for anything up to seven years feeding on the sap from tree roots. It has used its powerful front legs to burrow up through the soil and climb this tree. Here it has discarded its shell for the last time. Now it will live above ground as a mature cicada for only a couple of weeks. If it is a male it will be one of those causing the continuous shrilling in the trees as it sings to attract a mate. If it is a female, its work will be done once it has laid its eggs. When hatched the baby nymphs will fall to the ground, burrow into the soil and the cycle will begin again.
As a child I would gather these shells and play with them like you would with plastic farm animals today.
Around Sydney the nymphs have emerged in such massive numbers this year they’re making news headlines.
Great capture of the shell - I always have to look twice to see if they're just the cases or the actual insects. Maybe you've got all our cicadas - they're very quiet here in VIC this year...
