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News: Meghalaya’s niangtaser cicadas (Chremistica ribhoi) have reappeared after four years, coinciding with the football World Cup.
About Cicadas (Cicadoidea)
- Cicadas (Cicadoidea) are hemipteran insects known for their loud, species-specific calls and long underground life cycles.
- Habitat: Most cicadas are canopy dwellers and are found in natural forests with large trees, where they spend most of their lives underground.
- India has several cicada species, mainly in the Northeast, including Meghalaya’s World Cup cicada (Chremistica ribhoi) and the newly discovered Butterfly Cicada.
- Characteristics:
- Life Cycle: Cicadas remain underground for most of their lives and emerge only when they are ready to metamorphose into adults.
- Sound Production: Only male cicadas produce loud calls through vibrations in the tymbal membrane to attract female partners.
- Species-specific Calls: Each species produces its own unique call, and the collective sound is a very good indicator of forest health.
- Survival Strategy: A cicada has the best chance of survival when it emerges while its predators remain dormant.
- Ecological Importance: Cicadas feed birds, reptiles, and mammals while helping in soil aeration and nutrient cycling.
- Conservation Status: Cicadas as a group are not listed on the IUCN Red List, although some individual species are classified as Least Concern or Near Threatened.
- In India, cicadas are not listed under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and therefore lack formal legal protection.
