Friday, April 10, 2009

What's Been Eating Our Oak.

While doing research when writing about my cicada images, I read that the underground nymphs munch on tree roots. Many of us have seen the shed exoskeleton of the larval cicada- they aren't hard to find attached to trees. You can even pick the paper thin shell up and put it on other things, including your friend's shirt, for example.

Anyways, I have never seen one of these larvae alive, until last weekend, when I was digging up some lemon scented mint in the yard. As I dug into clay soil with a potato rake and begin ripping out roots, I noticed a tan blog slowly waving its legs, clearly out of its element in the light. It was a LIVE cicada nymph.





Although the nymph's opque eyes make it look dead, it was very much alive, waving its legs up and down slowly but assuredly.

Take a look at the wing buds and those massive front claws.



And it is hard to believe that soon, this creature will climb up a tree, break out of its exoskeleton, and become an aerial tree dweller.


If you liked this, you may enjoy looking at more of my cicada images
Tom

13 comments:

  1. That is so cool. Superb photos! Thanks for sharing something so seldom seen!

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  2. Wow, I"ve seen the shell before but never the nymph, either. What a gross looking little creature! Little but mighty, by the size of it's claws, they look like they could do some damage! Are they hurting your oak?
    Mom

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  3. Mom- I think that they eat the roots, but there not hurting the tree. Enough roots to go around.

    Tom

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  4. Gosh - these photos actually gave me the shivers! Such detail - those claws look lethal...Thank you for sharing.

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  5. Nice photos. I have only seen cicada shells myself.
    Robby (snake blogger)
    http://www.snakeadventures.blogspot.com/

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  6. That's one cryptic little guy. It makes one wonder how many other hidden wonders surround us at any given moment in time.

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  7. SO awesome, Tom! Thanks for sharing--I've never seen the like!

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  8. Hey Tom, cool and not so cool. Ouch how big is this creature? Anna :)

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  9. Cool...I've never seen one at this stage.

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  10. You make me want to go dig and see if I can find one...

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  11. Thanks everyone-

    Rose, I hope you find one.

    Anna- About a half of an inch long.

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  12. I think cicadas are SO cool, and I love taking pictures of them. I just wish they weren't so destructive.

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