I think we can all agree that this year has been strange. But as we hurtle towards the end of 2020, some things remain as they always have with the days getting hotter and the Cicadas starting to emerge and call, loudly, for a mate.
If there is one thing you make time for over the crazy Christmas period, can I suggest that it’s this: heading out into the warm night, a couple of hours after sunset when it’s that crisp sort of darkness. You don’t have to go far, into your yard or the local park is fine and let the torch’s beam sweep across any vertical surface – a tree trunk, a fence, a wall.
It can take a bit of searching but if you’re lucky, you might get to watch as a dirt-encrusted hard-shelled cicada nymph burrows its way up and out of the ground and makes its way upwards to find the best position in which to cling on tightly and break free of this hard outer shell and emerge as an adult.
Around here, the Cicadas seem to really like our deck and letterbox to hold onto, frozen in this position for around half an hour before a small split appears on the shell.
After a series of almost invisible pulsations and vibrations this split widens and the first glimpse of fresh skin appears. And this is when it gets really exciting, or, if you’re that way inclined, a tad gruesome and either way totally reminiscent of the chest-busting scene from Alien, as the Cicada slowly, very slowly pulls out of its old exoskeleton and leans right back before finally doing a sit up like move and freeing its abdomen.
The cicada pumps fluid into its wings and the little wing buds unfurl gently until the animal is starting to look more like its finished self. By this point, an hour or two has passed and there’s still drying of the wings and hardening of the skin and darkening and changing of the insect’s colour.
This whole process takes time, so ensure you have a comfy seat and/or a glass of wine or two, or a coffee at least. But that’s okay. If there’s anything this year has taught us, it’s how to slow down.
Follow Amanda’s Facebook blog @BackyardZoology
