People are talking about cicadas, again. That reminded me I’d written a post about how to pronounce ‘cicada’ in spring 2017:
By the turn of the 21st century, most British references gave “kah” as the primary variant, with “kay” still holding sway across the Atlantic.
More interesting really is the extraordinary lifecycle of these creatures. The carcass I found this morning tells of the adult cracking through the shell of its nymph to fly off and feast on spring’s vegetation and, if male, to serenade us . This article on the ABC RN website explains the cycle and shows the moment of liberation.
Bundanoon is a favourite place for cicadas. That’s why the local school has been part of a citizen science program, the Great Cicada Blitz. Australia has the richest diversity of cicadas in the world (350 of around 100 have been identified). This project is asking people to help with understanding the ecological preferences of Australian cicadas, including how they have adapted to urbanisation. You can send in photos or sound recordings to add to the database. Now there’s a good way to use social media.