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Dead Cicada Found

We have an interesting insect here which we call in our native dialect as the “Nen-nen”. Some Filipinos call it “Gangis”. Through my research, the English name for this insect is “Cicada”.

Common Cicadas have a size of around half inch and what’s really interesting about them is that, you can attract and easily catch them by making tik-tok sounds. This can be done by simply using your mouth and tongue to create the sound. I really have no idea why they get attracted to such kind of sound. The person who discovered it probably has a good understanding about these insect.

However, what we have discovered here is a large size Cicada where it measures two and a half inches. Large size Cicadas does produce very loud sound than the smaller ones. But unlike the smaller kinds, they cannot be attracted with the tik-tok sound which makes them a lot harder to capture alive.

Unfortunately, what we discovered here is a dead Cicada. It was actually the Cicada that we often hear at around 6 to 7 PM with its loud buzzing sound. Some people may find the insect’s sound quite irritating but as for me, I like it because it gives me the atmosphere of being with the nature. Sadly, when we found the insect laying dead on the ground, we no longer hear the sound of the Cicada that we normally used to listen.

Below are the photos of the Cicada that I took.







As you can see, the insect’s remain is pretty much complete which means that it must have died naturally. According to my research, large Cicada of this kind has a life-span of 15 to 17 years.

Interesting Facts about Cicada


Due to my interest with the Cicada insects, I made some further research particularly some interesting facts about them. So what are they?

Cicadas do not have the ability to bite or sting even when they are threatened. But for a certain individual who encounter this insect for the first-time, it is only natural for them to perceive the creature to bite or sting. However, throughout my whole life especially during my childhood days, I had held these insects with my bare hands a lot of times. This proves that they are completely harmless.

There are several different species of Cicadas and what’s interesting about them is that, each of their kind has their own unique sound. As I stated above, the sound generated by the dead Cicada that we found is quite soothing to my ears.

According to the National Geographic, the sound generated by some species of Cicadas can travel a distance of about 1.5 kilometer which is equivalent to 1 mile. Thus, it might not be a pretty good idea to get close enough to the Cicadas just for the sake of listening to the sound that they produce.

By the looks of it, Cicada has obviously two eyes but the fact is that this insect actually has five eyes. Aside from its two eyes, there is an additional three eyes that are in between. Cicadas eyes can also come in many different color but the most common ones are white, red, gray, blue, and yellow.

You may not believe this that Cicadas are edible. People and animals can actually eat them. For human consumption, these insects can be barbecued, boil, broil, bake, and sauté it. While for animals, they can freely consume it without any needed preparation.

Moreover, Cicadas aren’t really going extinct like most other insects around. There are literally billions of them thriving on different parts of the world.



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