Description

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Context:

North American cicadas have life cycles that last for prime numbers of years, putting pressure on the idea that humans created mathematics.

Details:

About	Cicadas are hemipteran insects known for their loud, complex, species specific acoustic signals or songs.
Diversity	India and Bangladesh have the highest generic diversity of cicadas, followed by China.
Survival Strategy	Cicadas emerge from the ground when predators are dormant to increase their chances of survival.
Habitat	Mostly canopy dwellers found in natural forests with large trees.
Types of Cicadas	Divided into two groups: annual and periodical.
Annual Cicadas	Emerge at different times each summer. Usually dark with greenish markings. Camouflage in trees to avoid predators like birds and moles.
Periodical Cicadas	Only seven species are periodical. Emerge all at once in summer after a dormant period of either 13 or 17 years.
Ecological Significance	Prune mature trees. Aerate the soil. Their bodies provide nitrogen for growing trees once they die.

Source:

THE HINDU

PRACTICE QUESTION

Q.The term ‘Cicadas’ was recently in the news. It is related to which among the following?

(a) Flower

(b) Fungus

(d) Fruit

Answer: c

Explanation:

The cicadas are a superfamily, the Cicadoidea, of insects in the order Hemiptera (true bugs). They are in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, along with smaller jumping bugs such as leafhoppers and froghoppers. The superfamily is divided into two families, the Tettigarctidae, with two species in Australia, and the Cicadidae, with more than 3,000 species described from around the world; many species remain undescribed. Nearly all of cicada species are annual cicadas except for the few North American periodical cicada species, genus Magicicada, which in a given region emerge en masse every 13 or 17 years