Why can cicadas only live seven days?

There are actually some misunderstandings about the statement that "a cicada can only live seven days." Cicadas are a type of insect whose life cycle usually involves spending a long larval stage in the soil (usually several years), then crawling out of the ground as adults, conducting short adult activities, and finally laying eggs to reproduce.

The adult stage of a cicada usually lasts from a few weeks to a few months, depending on the species. During this time, they engage in courtship, reproduction, foraging and other survival activities. So not all cicadas live only seven days. During the adult stage, cicadas reproduce, and the eggs laid by female cicadas hatch into larvae and enter the soil again to continue their life cycle.

However, it is precisely because the activity time of cicadas in the adult stage is relatively short, and most cicadas will use their noisy unique chirping to attract the opposite sex, mate and lay eggs for part of the time, so people may have certain misunderstandings about the lifespan of adult insects. It is believed that cicadas can only live for seven days.

In short, cicadas do not only live for seven days. Their lifespan depends on the species, and different stages of their life cycle are important, both for ecosystems and biodiversity.

animal tags： cicada