Tag Archives: cicada

Moulting

Posted on January 8, 2012 by malcolm

Insects and spiders can’t grow steadily like we do because their skeletons are on the outside and serve simultaneously as skin, skeleton and armour. It doesn’t grow or stretch once it has hardened so the animal has to grow a … Continue reading →

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A superfluidity of cicadas

Posted on December 22, 2011 by malcolm

If you read my title carefully you probably thought I had made a mistake but no, it was deliberate – an attempt to capture this effect: I mentioned recently that our cicada season has started. We don’t have very many … Continue reading →

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What’s around – mid December

Posted on December 16, 2011 by malcolm

In the last three weeks we have finally had some rain (see previous post for details) and the insects are responding. We have more … Beetles – mostly 12mm long brown beetles, with a few green ‘Christmas beetles’, flying to … Continue reading →

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First Cicada of the season

Posted on November 18, 2011 by malcolm

Our first cicada for months – perhaps since January – flew in through an open window last night. They seem to start appearing around the end of October each year, nymphs digging their way up out of the ground to climb … Continue reading →

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