Pretty much any animal that eats insects will eat a cicada if it can catch one. Cicadas can be found all around the world and are known to live on every continent except Antarctica. They’re typically contained within just a few states. Cicadas are related to leafhoppers and spittlebugs. Cicadas don't have many defenses. Nymphs hide deep in the soil. "The song of the cicadas leaves nothing visible from their near death." Cicadas are the loudest insects in the world and there are more than 200 species in Australia. There are more than 720 species of cicadas in North America and more than 2,000 species worldwide. Many people around the world regularly complement their standard diet with cicadas: the female is prized for eating as it is meatier. Cicadas start their lives as eggs above ground. The adults may also suck plant juices from stems. When they hatch, they burrow down into the ground. Depending on the species of cicada, this could be a tree, or perhaps a grass (sugar cane, which some cicadas use … Cicadas live all over the world. The complicated life cycle of cicadas is one of mystery, fascination and intrigue: Nearly all cicadas spend years underground as juveniles, before emerging above ground for a short adult stage of several weeks to a few months. Cicadas are well-known for the unique sound the males of the species make. Once out of the ground, they live only a few weeks, mate, and then die. They can be found in the US within a specific biogeographical region. Or save 18 minutes and just read it: These are the 17 most interesting 17-year cicada facts (IMHO). All these facts apply to 13-year cicadas … July 6, 2015. The term parasite has negative … What do they eat? The shortness of their existence reminds the Japanese, through nature, of the vanity and fleetingness of existence. It is thought that the sound produced by some communal species can act as a defence against predatory birds and some are even loud enough (120 decibels) to be painful to the human ear. Cicadas spend most of their lives sucking juice from the roots of trees. For food, they suck liquid out of plant roots, since their mothers do not care for them. What eats them and how do they avoid being eaten? Cicadas do not bite or sting, are benign to humans, and are not considered a pest. The cicadas spend 2 to 3 years underground, where they are only nymphs. Cicadas are also found in Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and North America. Where do Cicadas Live? If you have 18 minutes to spare, watch the video version of this article. They emerge as adults all at once in the same year. Once they become adults, cicadas live on and around plants similar to their host plants, often the very same tree where they were born. The cicada’s purpose in terms of trees: Periodical cicadas are parasites of trees, more specifically of deciduous trees (leaves fall off in the fall) native to the region in which the periodical cicadas exist (maples, oaks, ash, etc.).