ácidas

Superfamily of insects

The cicadas () are a superfamily, the Cicadoidea, of insects in the order Hemiptera (true bugs). They are in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha,^[a] along with smaller jumping bugs such as leafhoppers and froghoppers. The superfamily is divided into two families, the Tettigarctidae, with two species in Australia, and the Cicadidae, with more than 3,000 species described from around the world; many species remain undescribed.

Cicadas have prominent eyes set wide apart, short antennae, and membranous front wings. They have an exceptionally loud song, produced in most species by the rapid buckling and unbuckling of drumlike tymbals. The earliest known fossil Cicadomorpha appeared in the Upper Permian period; extant species occur all around the world in temperate to tropical climates. They typically live in trees, feeding on watery sap from xylem tissue, and laying their eggs in a slit in the bark. Most cicadas are cryptic. The vast majority of species are active during the day as adults, with some calling at dawn or dusk. Only a rare few species are known to be nocturnal.

One exclusively North American genus, Magicicada (the periodical cicadas), which spend most of their lives as underground nymphs, emerge in predictable intervals of 13 or 17 years, depending on the species and the location. The unusual duration and synchronization of their emergence may reduce the number of cicadas lost to predation, both by making them a less reliably available prey (so that any predator that evolved to depend on cicadas for sustenance might starve waiting for their emergence), and by emerging in such huge numbers that they will satiate any remaining predators before losing enough of their number to threaten their survival as a species.^[1]

The annual cicadas are species that emerge every year. Though these cicadas' life cycles can vary from 1–9 or more years as underground nymphs, their emergence above ground as adults is not synchronized, so some members of each species appear every year.^[2]

Cicadas have been featured in literature since the time of Homer's Iliad and as motifs in art from the Chinese Shang dynasty. They have also been used in myth and folklore as symbols of carefree living and immortality. The cicada is also mentioned in Hesiod's Shield (ll.393–394), in which it is said to sing when millet first ripens. Cicadas are eaten by humans in various countries, including China, where the nymphs are served deep-fried in Shandong cuisine.

The name is directly from the onomatopoeic Latin cicada.^[3][4][b]

The superfamily Cicadoidea is a sister of the Cercopoidea (the froghoppers). Cicadas are arranged into two families: the Tettigarctidae and Cicadidae. The two extant species of the Tettigarctidae include one in southern Australia and the other in Tasmania. The family Cicadidae is subdivided into the subfamilies Cicadettinae, Cicadinae, Derotettiginae, Tibicininae (or Tettigadinae), and Tettigomyiinae^[6] they are found on all continents except Antarctica. Some previous works also included a family-level taxon called the Tibiceninae. The largest species is the Malaysian emperor cicada Megapomponia imperatoria; its wingspan is up to about 20 cm (8 in).^[7] Cicadas are also notable for the great length of time some species take to mature.^[8]

At least 3000 cicada species are distributed worldwide, in essentially any habitat that has deciduous trees, with the majority being in the tropics. Most genera are restricted to a single biogeographical region, and many species have a very limited range. This high degree of endemism has been used to study the biogeography of complex island groups such as in Indonesia and Asia.^[9] There are several hundred described species in Australia and New Zealand,^[c] around 150 in South Africa, over 170 in America north of Mexico,^[10] at least 800 in Latin America,^[11] and over 200 in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific.^[12]

About 100 species occur in the Palaearctic. A few species are found in southern Europe,^[8] and a single species was known from England, the New Forest cicada, Cicadetta montana, which also occurs in continental Europe.^[13] Many species await formal description and many well-known species are yet to be studied carefully using modern acoustic analysis tools that allow their songs to be characterized.

Many of the North American species are the annual or jarfly or dog-day cicadas, members of the Neotibicen, Megatibicen, or Hadoa genera, so named because they emerge in late July and August.^[14] The best-known North American genus, however, may be Magicicada. These periodical cicadas have an extremely long life cycle of 13 or 17 years, with adults suddenly and briefly emerging in large numbers.^[14][15]

Australian cicadas are found on tropical islands and cold coastal beaches around Tasmania, in tropical wetlands, high and low deserts, alpine areas of New South Wales and Victoria, large cities including Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, and Tasmanian highlands and snowfields. Many of them have common names such as cherry nose, brown baker, red eye, greengrocer, yellow Monday, whisky drinker, double drummer, and black prince. The Australian greengrocer, Cyclochila australasiae, is among the loudest insects in the world.^[16]

More than 40 species from five genera populate New Zealand, ranging from sea level to mountain tops, and all are endemic to New Zealand and its surrounding islands (Kermadec Islands, Chatham Islands). One species is found on Norfolk Island, which technically is part of Australia.^[17] The closest relatives of the NZ cicadas live in New Caledonia and Australia.

Fossil Cicadomorpha first appeared in the Late Triassic. The superfamily Palaeontinoidea contains three families. The Upper Permian Dunstaniidae are found in Australia and South Africa, and also in younger rocks from China. The Upper Triassic Mesogereonidae are found in Australia and South Africa.^[18] This group, though, is currently thought to be more distantly related to Cicadomorpha than previously thought.^[19]

The Palaeontinidae or "giant cicadas" come from the Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous of Eurasia and South America.^[18] The first of these was a fore wing discovered in the Taynton Limestone Formation of Oxfordshire, England; it was initially described as a butterfly in 1873, before being recognised as a cicada-like form and renamed Palaeontina oolitica.^[20]

Most fossil Cicadidae are known from the Cenozoic,^[21] and the oldest unambiguously identified specimen is Davispia bearcreekensis (subfamily Tibicininae) from 59–56 million years ago (Mya). One fossil genus and species (Burmacicada protera) based on a first-instar nymph has recently been reported from 98–99 Mya in the Late Cretaceous,^[22] although questions remain about its assignment to the Cicadidae.^[21]

Cicadas are large insects made conspicuous by the courtship calls of the males. They are characterized by having three joints in their tarsi, and having small antennae with conical bases and three to six segments, including a seta at the tip.^[23] The Auchenorrhyncha differ from other hemipterans by having a rostrum that arises from the posteroventral part of the head, complex sound-producing membranes, and a mechanism for linking the wings that involves a down-rolled edging on the rear of the fore wing and an upwardly protruding flap on the hind wing.^[9]

Cicadas are feeble jumpers, and nymphs lack the ability to jump altogether. Another defining characteristic is the adaptations of the fore limbs of nymphs for underground life. The relict family Tettigarctidae differs from the Cicadidae in having the prothorax extending as far as the scutellum, and by lacking the tympanal apparatus.^[9]

The adult insect, known as an imago, is 2 to 5 cm (1 to 2 in) in total length in most species. The largest, the empress cicada (Megapomponia imperatoria), has a head-body length around 7 cm (2.8 in), and its wingspan is 18–20 cm (7–8 in).^[8][24] Cicadas have prominent compound eyes set wide apart on the sides of the head. The short antennae protrude between the eyes or in front of them. They also have three small ocelli located on the top of the head in a triangle between the two large eyes; this distinguishes cicadas from other members of the Hemiptera. The mouthparts form a long, sharp rostrum that they insert into the plant to feed.^[25] The postclypeus is a large, nose-like structure that lies between the eyes and makes up most of the front of the head; it contains the pumping musculature.^[26]

The thorax has three segments and houses the powerful wing muscles. They have two pairs of membranous wings that may be hyaline, cloudy, or pigmented. The wing venation varies between species and may help in identification. The middle thoracic segment has an operculum on the underside, which may extend posteriorly and obscure parts of the abdomen. The abdomen is segmented, with the hindermost segments housing the reproductive organs, and terminates in females with a large, saw-edged ovipositor. In males, the abdomen is largely hollow and used as a resonating chamber.^[25]

The surface of the fore wing is superhydrophobic; it is covered with minute, waxy cones, blunt spikes that create a water-repellent film. Rain rolls across the surface, removing dirt in the process. In the absence of rain, dew condenses on the wings. When the droplets coalesce, they leap several millimetres into the air, which also serves to clean the wings.^[27] Bacteria landing on the wing surface are not repelled; rather, their membranes are torn apart by the nanoscale-sized spikes, making the wing surface the first-known biomaterial that can kill bacteria.^[28]

Desert cicadas such as Diceroprocta apache are unusual among insects in controlling their temperature by evaporative cooling, analogous to sweating in mammals. When their temperature rises above about 39°C, they suck excess sap from the food plants and extrude the excess water through pores in the tergum at a modest cost in energy. Such a rapid loss of water can be sustained only by feeding on water-rich xylem sap. At lower temperatures, feeding cicadas would normally need to excrete the excess water. By evaporative cooling, desert cicadas can reduce their bodily temperature by some 5°C.^[29][30] Some non-desert cicada species such as Magicicada tredecem also cool themselves evaporatively, but less dramatically.^[31] Conversely, many other cicadas can voluntarily raise their body temperatures as much as 22 °C (40 °F) above ambient temperature.^[32]

The "singing" of male cicadas is produced principally and in the majority of species using a special structure called a tymbal, a pair of which lies below each side of the anterior abdominal region. The structure is buckled by muscular action and, being made of resilin, unbuckles rapidly on muscle relaxation, producing their characteristic sounds. Some cicadas, however, have mechanisms for stridulation, sometimes in addition to the tymbals. Here, the wings are rubbed over a series of midthoracic ridges. In the Chinese species Subpsaltria yangi, both males and females can stridulate.^[33] The sounds may further be modulated by membranous coverings and by resonant cavities.^[23]

The male abdomen in some species is largely hollow, and acts as a sound box. By rapidly vibrating these membranes, a cicada combines the clicks into apparently continuous notes, and enlarged chambers derived from the tracheae serve as resonance chambers with which it amplifies the sound. The cicada also modulates the song by positioning its abdomen toward or away from the substrate. Partly by the pattern in which it combines the clicks, each species produces its own distinctive mating songs and acoustic signals, ensuring that the song attracts only appropriate mates.^[14] The tettigarctid (or hairy) cicadas Tettigarcta crinita of Australia and T. tomentosa have rudimentary tymbals in both sexes and do not produce airborne sounds. Both males and females produce vibrations that are transmitted through the tree substrate. They are considered as representing the original state from which other cicada communication has evolved.^[34]

Average temperature of the natural habitat for the South American species Fidicina rana is about 29 °C (84 °F). During sound production, the temperature of the tymbal muscles was found to be significantly higher.^[35] Many cicadas sing most actively during the hottest hours of a summer day; roughly a 24-hour cycle.^[36] Most cicadas are diurnal in their calling and depend on external heat to warm them up, while a few are capable of raising their temperatures using muscle action and some species are known to call at dusk.^[32] Kanakia gigas and Froggattoides typicus are among the few that are known to be truly nocturnal and there may be other nocturnal species living in tropical forests.^[37][38]

Cicadas call from varying heights on trees. Where multiple species occur, the species may use different heights and timing of calling.^[39][40] While the vast majority of cicadas call from above the ground, two Californian species, Okanagana pallidula and O. vanduzeei are known to call from hollows made at the base of the tree below the ground level. The adaptive significance is unclear, as the calls are not amplified or modified by the burrow structure, but this may avoid predation.^[41]

Although only males produce the cicadas' distinctive sounds, both sexes have membranous structures called tympana (singular – tympanum) by which they detect sounds, the equivalent of having ears. Males disable their own tympana while calling, thereby preventing damage to their hearing;^[42] a necessity partly because some cicadas produce sounds up to 120 dB (SPL)^[42] which is among the loudest of all insect-produced sounds.^[43] The song is loud enough to cause permanent hearing loss in humans should the cicada be at "close range". In contrast, some small species have songs so high in pitch that they are inaudible to humans.^[44]

For the human ear, telling precisely where a cicada song originates is often difficult. The pitch is nearly constant, the sound is continuous to the human ear, and cicadas sing in scattered groups. In addition to the mating song, many species have a distinct distress call, usually a broken and erratic sound emitted by the insect when seized or panicked. Some species also have courtship songs, generally quieter, and produced after a female has been drawn to the calling song. Males also produce encounter calls, whether in courtship or to maintain personal space within choruses.^[45]

The songs of cicadas are considered by entomologists to be unique to a given species, and a number of resources exist to collect and analyse cicada sounds.^[46]

In some species of cicadas, the males remain in one location and call to attract females. Sometimes, several males aggregate and call in chorus. In other species, the males move from place to place, usually with quieter calls, while searching for females. The Tettigarctidae differ from other cicadas in producing vibrations in the substrate rather than audible sounds.^[9] After mating, the female cuts slits into the bark of a twig where she deposits her eggs.^[9] Both male and female cicadas die within a few weeks after emerging from the soil. Although they have mouthparts and are able to consume some plant liquids for nutrition, the amount eaten is very small and the insects have a natural adult lifespan of less than two months.

When the eggs hatch, the newly hatched nymphs drop to the ground and burrow. Cicadas live underground as nymphs for most of their lives at depths down to about 2.5 m (8 ft). Nymphs have strong front legs for digging and excavating chambers in close proximity to roots, where they feed on xylem sap. In the process, their bodies and interior of the burrow become coated in anal fluids. In wet habitats, larger species construct mud towers above ground to aerate their burrows. In the final nymphal instar, they construct an exit tunnel to the surface and emerge.^[9] They then moult (shed their skins) on a nearby plant for the last time, and emerge as adults. The exuviae or abandoned exoskeletons remain, still clinging to the bark of the tree.^[47]

Most cicadas go through a life cycle that lasts 2–5 years. Some species have much longer life cycles, such as the North American genus, Magicicada, which has a number of distinct "broods" that go through either a 17-year, or in some parts of the region, a 13-year life cycle. The long life cycles may have developed as a response to predators, such as the cicada killer wasp and praying mantis.^[48][49][50] A specialist predator with a shorter life cycle of at least two years could not reliably prey upon the cicadas.^[51] An alternate hypothesis is that these long life cycles evolved during the ice ages so as to overcome cold spells, and that as species co-emerged and hybridized, they left distinct species that did not hybridize having periods matching prime numbers.^[52]

Cicada nymphs drink sap from the xylem of various species of trees, including oak, cypress, willow, ash, and maple. While common folklore indicates that adults do not eat, they actually do drink plant sap using their sucking mouthparts.^[53][54]

Cicadas, unlike other Auchenorrhyncha, are not adapted for jumping (saltation).^[55] They have the usual insect modes of locomotion, walking and flight, but they do not walk or run well, and take to the wing to travel distances greater than a few centimetres.^[9]

Cicadas are commonly eaten by birds and mammals,^[56] as well as bats, wasps, mantises, spiders, and robber flies. In times of mass emergence of cicadas, various amphibians, fish, reptiles, mammals, and birds change their foraging habits so as to benefit from the glut. Newly hatched nymphs may be eaten by ants, and nymphs living underground are preyed on by burrowing mammals such as moles.^[25] In northern Japan, brown bears prey on final instar nymphs of cicadas during summer by digging up the ground.^[57] In Australia, cicadas are preyed on by the Australian cicada killer wasp (Exeirus lateritius), which stings and stuns cicadas high in the trees, making them drop to the ground, where the cicada hunter mounts and carries them, pushing with its hind legs, sometimes over a distance of 100 m, until they can be shoved down into its burrow, where the numb cicadas are placed onto one of many shelves in a "catacomb", to form the food stock for the wasp grub that grows out of the egg deposited there.^[58] A katydid predator from Australia is capable of attracting singing male cicadas of a variety of species by imitating the timed click replies of sexually receptive female cicadas, which respond in pair formation by flicking their wings.^[59]

Several fungal diseases infect and kill adult cicadas, while other fungi, Ophiocordyceps and Isaria spp., attack nymphs.^[25] Massospora cicadina specifically attacks the adults of periodical cicadas, the spores remaining dormant in the soil between outbreaks.^[60] This fungus is also capable of dosing cicadas with psilocybin, the psychedelic drug found in magic mushrooms, as well as cathinone, an alkaloid similar to various amphetamines. These chemicals alter the behaviour of the cicadas, driving males to copulate, including attempts with males, and is thought to be beneficial to the fungus, as the fungal spores are dispersed by a larger number of infected carriers.^[61]

Plants can also defend themselves against cicadas. Although cicadas can feed on the roots of gymnosperms, it has been found that resinous conifers such as pine do not allow the eggs of Magicicada to hatch, the resin sealing up the egg cavities.^[62][63]

Cicadas use a variety of strategies to evade predators. Large cicadas can fly rapidly to escape if disturbed.^[64] Many are extremely well camouflaged^[64][65] to evade predators such as birds that hunt by sight. Being coloured like tree bark and disruptively patterned to break up their outlines, they are difficult to discern;^[66] their partly transparent wings are held over the body and pressed close to the substrate. Some cicada species play dead when threatened.^[67][68]

Some cicadas such as Hemisciera maculipennis display bright deimatic flash coloration on their hind wings when threatened; the sudden contrast helps to startle predators, giving the cicadas time to escape.^[69] Most cicadas are diurnal and rely on camouflage when at rest, but some species use aposematism-related Batesian mimicry, wearing the bright colors that warn of toxicity in other animals; the Malaysian Huechys sanguinea has conspicuous red and black warning coloration, is diurnal, and boldly flies about in full view of possible predators.^[70]

Predators such as the sarcophagid fly Emblemasoma hunt cicadas by sound, being attracted to their songs.^[71] Singing males soften their song so that the attention of the listener gets distracted to neighbouring louder singers, or cease singing altogether as a predator approaches. A loud cicada song, especially in chorus, has been asserted to repel predators, but observations of predator responses refute the claim.^[72]

Cicadas have been featured in literature since the time of Homer's Iliad, and as motifs in decorative art from the Chinese Shang dynasty (1766–1122 BCE).^[d] They are described by Aristotle in his History of Animals and by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History; their mechanism of sound production is mentioned by Hesiod in his poem "Works and Days": "when the Skolymus flowers, and the tuneful Tettix sitting on his tree in the weary summer season pours forth from under his wings his shrill song".^[74] In the classic 14th-century Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Diaochan took her name from the sable (diao) tails and jade decorations in the shape of cicadas (chan), which adorned the hats of high-level officials.

In the Japanese novel The Tale of Genji, the title character poetically likens one of his many love interests to a cicada for the way she delicately sheds her robe the way a cicada sheds its shell when molting. Cicada exuviae play a role in the manga Winter Cicada. Cicadas are a frequent subject of haiku, where, depending on type, they can indicate spring, summer, or autumn.^[75] Shaun Tan's illustrated book Cicada tells the story of a hardworking but underappreciated cicada working in an office.^[76] Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' play Appropriate takes place on an Arkansas farm in summer, and calls for the sounds of mating cicadas to underscore the entire show.^[77]

Cicadas are featured in the well-known protest song "Como La Cigarra" ("Like the Cicada") written by Argentinian poet and composer Maria Elena Walsh. In the song, the cicada is a symbol of survival and defiance against death. The song was famously recorded by Mercedes Sosa, among other Latin American musicians.

In North America - Mexico, there is a well-known song, "La Cigarra" ("The Cicada"), written by Raymundo Perez Soto, is a song in the Mariachi tradition that romanticises the insect as a creature that sings until it dies.^[78]

Brazilian artist Lenine with his track "Malvadeza" from the album Chao creates a song built upon the sound of the cicada that can be heard along the track.^[79]

Cicada sounds heavily feature on the 2021 album Solar Power by New Zealand artist Lorde. She described cicada song as being emblematic of the New Zealand summer.^[80]

Cicadas have been used as money, in folk medicine, to forecast the weather, to provide song (in China), and in folklore and myths around the world.^[81] In France, the cicada represents the folklore of Provence and the Mediterranean cities.^[82]

The cicada has represented insouciance since classical antiquity. Jean de La Fontaine began his collection of fables Les fables de La Fontaine with the story "La Cigale et la Fourmi" ("The Cicada and the Ant") based on one of Aesop's fables; in it, the cicada spends the summer singing, while the ant stores away food, and finds herself without food when the weather turns bitter.^[83]

In Chinese tradition, the cicada (蟬, chan) symbolises rebirth and immortality.^[84] In the Chinese essay "Thirty-Six Stratagems", the phrase "to shed the golden cicada skin" (simplified Chinese: 金蝉脱壳; traditional Chinese: 金蟬脫殼; pinyin: jinchan tuoqiao) is the poetic name for using a decoy (leaving the exuviae) to fool enemies.^[85] In the Chinese classic novel Journey to the West (16th century), the protagonist Priest of Tang was named the Golden Cicada.^[86]

In Japan, the cicada is associated with the summer season.^[87] For many Japanese people, summer hasn't officially begun until the first songs of the cicada are heard.^[88] According to Lafcadio Hearn, the song of Meimuna opalifera, called tsuku-tsuku boshi, is said to indicate the end of summer, and it is called so because of its particular call.^[89]

In the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, the goddess Aphrodite retells the legend of how Eos, the goddess of the dawn, requested Zeus to let her lover Tithonus live forever as an immortal.^[90] Zeus granted her request, but because Eos forgot to ask him to also make Tithonus ageless, Tithonus never died, but he did grow old.^[90] Eventually, he became so tiny and shriveled that he turned into the first cicada.^[90] The Greeks also used a cicada sitting on a harp as an emblem of music.^[91]

In Kapampangan mythology in the Philippines, the goddess of dusk, Sisilim, is said to be greeted by the sounds and appearances of cicadas whenever she appears.^[92]

Cicadas were eaten in Ancient Greece, and are consumed today in China, both as adults and (more often) as nymphs.^[93] Cicadas are also eaten in Malaysia, Burma, North America, and central Africa, as well as the Balochistan region of Pakistan, especially in Ziarat.^[94] Female cicadas are prized for being meatier.^[44] Shells of cicadas are employed in traditional Chinese medicines.^[95] The 17-year "Onondaga Brood"^[96] Magicicada is culturally important and a particular delicacy to the Onondaga people,^[97] and are considered a novelty food item by modern consumers in several states.^[98]

Cicadas feed on sap; they do not bite or sting in a true sense, but may occasionally mistake a person's arm for a plant limb and attempt to feed.^[99] Male cicadas produce very loud calls that can damage human hearing.^[100]

Cicadas are not major agricultural pests, but in some outbreak years, trees may be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of females laying their eggs in the shoots. Small trees may wilt and larger trees may lose small branches.^[25] Although in general, the feeding activities of the nymphs do little damage, during the year before an outbreak of periodic cicadas, the large nymphs feed heavily and plant growth may suffer.^[101] Some species have turned from wild grasses to sugarcane, which affects the crop adversely, and in a few isolated cases, females have oviposited on cash crops such as date palms, grape vines, citrus trees, asparagus, and cotton.^[25]

Cicadas sometimes cause damage to ornamental shrubs and trees, mainly in the form of scarring left on tree branches where the females have laid their eggs. Branches of young trees may die as a result.^{[102][103][failed verification]}

This is a list of the most well-known cicadas in North America.

These cicadas appear ever year.

These cicadas have 17 or 13 year life cycles. Visit the Periodical Cicada Information Page for when and where.

Most sound files are Copyright of Insect Singers.

Maps: Biogeography of the Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) of North America, North of Mexico [PDF]

Didn’t find what you’re looking for? Try these websites about the cicadas of North America, or these blog posts about United States and Canada.

Click the images for larger versions, the species name, and the name of the photographer.

They’re baaack!

Cicadas are beginning to emerge in the eastern United States after spending the past 17 years underground. They're part of Brood X, which last emerged in 2004.

They’re already above ground — and making a deafening racket — in parts of Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina. Eventually, they may emerge as far west as Illinois and as far north as New York.

We know they’re noisy, and we know there are a lot of them, but what exactly are cicadas?

Contrary to common belief, cicadas are not grasshoppers or locusts. They belong to the same family as aphids and leafhoppers.

While they may creep some people out, cicadas are not dangerous. They don’t chew through crops, they are not poisonous, they don’t sting or bite and they are not known to carry disease, according to the University of Connecticut.

But why do some cicadas, called periodical cicadas, only emerge every 17 years?

“We're not really sure,” says Dr. Michael Raupp, an entomologist at the University of Maryland. “We think they may have a tiny molecular clock somewhere in their tiny brains that basically they're counting off those 17 years underground.”

When they do come above ground, it’s mating time. Males try to attract females by making loud clicking sounds, produced by contracting a special muscle on their abdomen, according to Britannica.

“The cicadas are making that sound because it’s all about romance,” Raupp says. “This is the male cicada trying to convince that special someone that she should be the mother of his nymphs.”

A chorus of these cicada love songs can reach up to 100 decibels, or about the volume of a loud lawnmower.

The cicadas typically stay above ground for about two weeks. The females lay their eggs in trees, and when the eggs hatch, the larvae drop to the ground and bury themselves into the soil, not to be seen again for another 17 years.

The emergence of cicadas is certainly a sight — and a sound — to behold. While these insects may gross many people out, Raupp sees their appearance as a rare and fascinating event.

“Are cicadas disgusting? Well, to some they might be disgusting, but to me they’re beautiful,” he says. “Beautiful, vermillion eyes, a jet black body, wonderful orange wings and their chorus is going to be like nothing else on this planet.”

The Contamination Indicator Decontamination Assurance System (CIDAS) is a technology used to identify chemical contamination. CIDAS is meant to help soldiers by detecting trace levels and finding the exact location of chemical weapon agents.^[1][2]

CIDAS is a component of a larger U.S. government initiative, run by the Joint Project Manager Protection at the Department of Defense, to improve decontamination processes associated with chemical, biological, and non-traditional warfare agents. Programs under this umbrella include the Joint Sensitive Equipment Wipe, General Purpose Decontaminants, and CIDAS.^[3]

The technology is designed primarily for government use, specifically on equipment such as tactical vehicles, ship surfaces, and weapons.^[4] The primary objective of CIDAS is the capability to detect trace levels of chemical warfare agents on surfaces before and after personnel decontaminate the surfaces during "during Detailed Equipment Decontamination (DED) operations."^[5] One component of CIDAS is an applicator that is used to show chemical agents, specifically nerve and blister agents.^[6]

In 2011, the U.S. Army product manager for the Decontamination Family of Systems (DFoS) began a market research project to identify potential prototype CIDAS technologies that could help soldiers locate chemical and biological warfare agents (CBWA), non-traditional agents (NTAs) and toxic industrial chemicals (TICs) on military equipment and vehicles.^[7]

After public input, the U.S. Army Contracting Command Aberdeen Proving Ground (ACC-APG) Contracting Center issued a request for proposal (RFP) in early 2013.^[2]

In 2014, the Joint Project Manager of Protection of the Joint Program Executive Office of Chemical and Biological Defense (JPEO-CBD) announced that it would seek two specific CIDAS devices to be used in level four "Mission Oriented Protective Posture gear." One device would be under 12 pounds and other device would be under 24 pounds, and both devices would be required to detect agents in under 5 minutes.^[8]

Six U.S. Army Reservists from the 365th Chemical Company BIDS, 76th Operational Response Command, and two Alabama National Guardsmen from the Alabama Homeland Response Force (HRF) participated in a user demonstration of a sprayed liquid that changes color to indicate the presence of chemical agent on a surface.

The Agent Disclosure Spray (ADS) came from the Contamination Indicator Decontamination Assurance System (CIDAS) onto vehicles “contaminated” with simulated agent. For the Soldiers, it was an opportunity to learn how well the prototype system worked.

The system is not only used to determine whether something is contaminated, it also indicates missed areas after decontamination.

The revealing ADS was mixed at the scene in two configurations, one for nerve agents and one for blister agents. The spray is composed of two parts, each a liquid created by mixing water and proprietary powders. When the two parts are pumped to the application wand, they create a spray that discloses the presence of chemical agent as a color change.

Small and large scale applicators were tried against vehicles “contaminated” with simulated agent. Testing was conducted to refine how CIDAS will be used in the hands of warfighters.

The small, handheld applicator will be used for an immediate operation on a small area. The larger applicator, carried on the back or slung over a shoulder, offers more Agent Disclosure Spray for operational use.

“Immediate is a decontamination process used to save their lives, done quickly,” said Francis Bahe, test control officer. “Operational would be more involved, to return to their mission.”

Greatest Trial!^[1] (Perbicaraan Terhebat!) is the third issue of BoBoiBoy Galaxy Season 2.

Yaya and Ying have gone to Cidas Valley to get the third material requested by Sir Gaharum. But after waiting all day, BoBoiBoy still has not received any news from them.

Concerned for their safety, BoBoiBoy and Gopal, along with their new friend Qually, went to Cidas Valley to investigate.^[2]

Yaya and Ying arrive in the Cidas Valley, where they discovered many Holy Chili crops, the multi-colored chillies needed to cook Gaharum’s favorite dish Tom Yam Sakti. Unaware that they were in the restricted area, Yaya and Ying picked as many Holy Chillies as they could, until they were caught by two giant bird-like creatures.

The next day, BoBoiBoy, Gopal, and Fang along with their new acquaintance, Qually board Captain Kaizo's spaceship to Cidas Valley to begin the search and rescue effort for Yaya and Ying after a day of failing to be contacted. BoBoiBoy asks Fang to stay on the ship while Gopal and Qually follow him.

While traveling, Qually explains that Holy Chili is a very exotic ingredient and appreciated by leading chefs, and is only found in Cidas Valley. He added that although it tastes good, Holy Chili is dangerous and can cause people to faint if eaten whole. Gopal took Qually's statement lightly and challenged himself to eat one, but it proved to be so spicy that Gopal blew fire.

The team received a signal of the presence of other parties in the vicinity. Qually told that they were on a people’s owned farm and they had to hide so as not to be detected by the farm guards. Before they could take refuge, BoBoiBoy and Gopal were chased by three creatures in the form of birds and hurriedly fled until they stumbled on a log in the middle of the road, then they had to face the parrot creatures who wanted to catch them for trespassing and stealing.

As soon as the farm guards attack them, BoBoiBoy turns into BoBoiBoy Cyclone and attacks with Cyclone Vortex to save Gopal. The bird creatures counter attacked by whipping the chilli at them, but Cyclone dodged and repelled the guard's chase with Cyclone Disc. However, the Chilli Tranquilizer hit Cyclone's body, causing him to convulse and fall. Gopal counter attacked by turning the head guard's Chilli Tranquilizers into a pinch cake. This action angered the chief of guards and he even acted to overthrow them.

After being helpless, BoBoiBoy and Gopal were flown by three farm guards to the Muriong Village tribunal center to be punished. There, they were confronted by the village head, Tok Ngau, who told Jaga Kar, the head guard, to lock them in a cage shaped like a bird cage. There they reunite with Ying and Yaya who are in handcuffs, a trial is underway.

After BoBoiBoy and Gopal were locked up, Tok Ngau held a trial on "Yong" and "Yey Yey" for trespassing and stealing Holy Chili from a Cidas Valley farm. Gopal laughed when he heard the names of his friends being mispronounced before being told to remain silent by Tok Ngau who called on Public Prosecutor Rukawr to come forward to argue, expressing how cursed was the accused's act of stealing the Holy Chili crop inherited from the Muriong people. While presenting his argument, Rukawr questioned the accused about the ownership of the bag containing the Holy Chili. Yaya and Ying claim the bag belongs to them, but they accidentally stole it. Nevertheless, Rukawr insisted with his argument suggesting that they be severely punished.

Upon completion of the Public Prosecutor's argument, Tok Ngau continued to announce his intention to punish. Yaya and Ying managed to intervene by asking to defend themselves, but Tok Ngau refused because the village law did not allow the accused to defend himself, instead he had to seek defense services from outside. Gopal offered himself as a defender. Despite Rukawr's objections, Tok Ngau complied with the request and released "Gopeng" to defend himself.

Imagining himself as a smart and confident lawyer, Gopal made a surprise by stating that his 'client' wanted to plead guilty ... because he always thought well of the situation, even those foreigners here who did not realize their actions were wrong. Rukawr protested because there were prohibition signs in the farm area. Gopal was stunned for a moment, but BoBoiBoy said that they were not even aware of the sign, so Gopal continued arguing that the thick fog weather had made it difficult for them to see the sign, so the accused was innocent on the basis of accident and ignorance.

Impressed by Gopal's arguments, Tok Ngau as the trial judge announced the verdict that Yaya and Ying were not guilty of trespassing and stealing from the Holy Chili farm, but ... they remained guilty of picking the Holy Chili which was too young and green, so they were dropped trial sentence with a fight, without any tolerance. In this fight, the accused (along with his lawyer) must defeat the village champion, Jaguh Lang, to be released.

So Jaguh Lang, a giant horned bird, to come to suspect Ying, Yaya and Gopal. Yaya and Ying attack first with Gravity Punch and Thousand Speed Kicks. The twin attacks seemed effective, but Jaguh Lang immediately responded with a powerful flap of wings that not only hit Ying and Yaya but even accidentally dropped the cage that enclosed BoBoiBoy.

Jaguh Lang then pulled out a wooden pole to hit the opponent, but Yaya managed to stop him with the Gravity Protector temporarily and told Ying to run away. BoBoiBoy offers to enter the fight, but Jaga Kar forbids it. After running far enough, Ying hurried back to Yaya's place with a High Speed Run. At the same time, Jaguh Lang manages to break the Gravity Protector, so Yaya releases a Gravity Wave to slow down his opponent until Ying returns with a Super Sonic Kick to subdue the eagle monster.

Ying and Yaya's efforts made Jaguh Lang complain that he didn't want to continue with the opponent. Gopal argued that Yaya and Ying should be pardoned and released for defeating Jaguh Lang, with threats to sue Muriong Village for injuring his men to the “Space High Court”, coupled with a claim for compensation. Tok Ngau was quite upset to hear Gopal's words and tried to calm his heart by offering a supply of Holy Chili to the team.

Minutes after the BoBoiBoy's gang left, Jaga Kar reported the theft of Golden Chili which bears fruit once a hundred years. Once again BoBoiBoy's gang is suspected, so Tok Ngau sends Jaga Kar and Jaguh Lang to chase them again. BoBoiBoy's gang returns to Captain Kaizo's Spaceship, where Qually awaits their return while taking refuge from the bird creatures. Before the birds could reach to reclaim the Golden Chili, BoBoiBoy's gang had already left without realizing that Qually had quietly stolen the Golden Chili.

DUGWAY PROVING GROUND, Utah -- Dugway personnel are testing a system whose liquid solution changes color when encountering chemical agent, to ensure that its applicator works as required and won't compromise Soldiers' safety in contaminated areas.

Dugway is testing prototype applicators, hand-built by U.S. Army Pine Bluff Arsenal in Arkansas, for the Contamination Indicator Decontamination Assurance System (CIDAS). The system uses Agentase Disclosure Spray solution, containing an enzyme that indicates the presence of chemical agents by changing color.

Unlike the prototype applicators, CIDAS and Agentase solution are established technologies according to Bill Davis, test officer with Dugway's Chemical Test Division.

The applicators are backpack-mounted with handheld spray nozzles. A small-scale applicator is also available. Each CIDAS kit includes the applicator and powder that, added to water, create the solution that changes color when contacting nerve agent. If testing approves the prototype applicators, Soldiers would have a simple, portable means to reveal nerve agent contamination before and after decontamination, Davis noted.

Testing began April 11, when prototype applicators sprayed the solution on nine vehicles at Dugway's 200-foot-long and 100-foot-wide Decontamination Facility. Each vehicle will be sprayed twice daily, for 28 total days, to determine the CIDAS' and applicators' longevity in realistic conditions.

Although the lengthy vehicle test will employ the color-changing solution, no simulated agent is on the vehicles to promote color change, Davis said. The test's purpose is long-term operation of the CIDAS and its applicators, not the solution's indicator function, Davis noted.

"They want to know when the system can be expected to fail, so they can provide a logistics train for spare parts and maintenance," Davis said.

The CIDAS test is sponsored by the Department of Defense's Joint Project Manager for Protection. The CIDAS kit is produced by FLIR of Wilsonville, Ore.

Other Dugway facilities will test the CIDAS and indicator solution. Some tests will use actual agent in indoor chambers that have multiple air filtration and safety features. Outdoor testing with agent is banned by international treaties.

At the Combined Chemical Test Facility (CCTF) a metal replica of a human bust, SMARTMAN, will wear gas masks and respirators contaminated with chemical agent. CIDAS indicator solution will be sprayed on the contaminated mask.

"If you apply the indicator, does it facilitate or accelerate permeation of the mask by chemical agent?" Davis said, noting the test's purpose.

In another CCTF lab, fabrics from chemical-resistant protective clothing will be contaminated with agent in a chamber, then CIDAS solution applied to learn if it affects the fabric's protection.

Carr Facility will challenge the CIDAS backpack and handheld sprayers with sand, humidity and temperature extremes, replicating operational environments. No agent will be used.

Dugway's wide-ranging capabilities and varied expertise in chemical and biological defense provide one-stop testing for a system that may someday see worldwide use to visually affirm the presence of chemical agent on surfaces.

The Contamination Indicator Decontamination Assurance Spray (CIDAS), developed by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, provides a vivid color indication in minutes to identify when various chemical weapons are present on materials and vehicles.

Having access to a suite of CIDAS formulations will enable DoD personnel to visually locate blister, nerve and non-traditional agent contamination in operational conditions. CIDAS provides actionable information to enable more accurate decontamination processes, and reduces cost by allowing “spot or pinpoint decontamination” to identify specific contaminated areas rather than using resources to treat an entire surface.

Researchers have recently tested a new formulation with improvements to color indication for blister agents and shelf life. The testing was conducted on a variety of surfaces including weapons, tactical vehicles and aircraft, under various temperatures and environmental conditions.

The new formulation provided a significant improvement in the color indication and a 50 percent improvement in stability under extreme temperature cycling between 70 degrees and 25 degrees Celsius.

DTRA’s Chemical and Biological Technologies Department recently transitioned the improved CIDAS technology to the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense for further technological evolution.