The first stage of a cicada's life cycle is the egg. The female cicada cuts a slit in some bark and lays her eggs there.
wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/Cicada_egg_slits
www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://pest.ca.uky.edu/EXT/Cicada/eggs
The second stage is the nymph. When the eggs hatch, the nymphs emerge. They suck sap from the branch that they are hatched on. Then they drop from the branch and burrow into the soil. There they suck sap from a tree root. The nymph continues to grow underground until it is ready to come out. The nymphs stay below the ground between 2 and 17 years.
www.cicadamania.com
When the nymphs come out they will climb up anything they can find. Then they molt out of their nymph skin and transform into the third stage of their life cycle, the adult cicada!
Fun Fact: In Ohio, we get cicadas every year. But every 17 years, a huge brood of "17 year cicadas" or Magicicada emerge. The next batch of Magicicada that will come out in Northeast Ohio will be in 2016.
Amazing Cicada Life Cycle
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