Cicadas
SciShow Tangents
Intro
This chapter introduces cicadas, diving into their life cycles, unique behaviors, and the mesmerizing spectacle of their mass emergence. The discussion emphasizes both the scientific and cultural importance of these fascinating insects, engaging listeners in a rich learning experience.
This summer's hottest North American bug is without question, the cicada. They've got everything: neon-colored wing veins, bendy-straw-style exoskeletons, an insatiable thirst for tree goo, and after 17 years of napping, they're bursting out of the ground ready to par-tay!
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[This or That: Cicadas or the Beatles]
https://www.science.org/content/article/secret-cicadas-chirp
https://cicadas.uconn.edu/behavior/
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/698019
Algorithm to measure song changes over time
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/500262
https://www.science.org/content/article/computer-charts-evolution-beatles
Test signals in fiber optic cables
https://academic.oup.com/jinsectscience/article/23/6/3/7425398?login=false
Female flies responding to songs
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4932889/
https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/cicadas-are-the-barry-white-of-the-insect-world/
Eroom’s Law principle related to drug development
https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/eroom-s-law
https://iubmb.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bmb.21617
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eroom%27s_law
[Trivia Question]
Bird hunting caterpillars on emergence and non-emergence years
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adi7426
https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/24148209/cicadas-2024-periodical-brood-eat-ecosystem-impact
[Fact Off]
Brown bears digging up cicada nymphs in Japanese human-planted forests
https://eprints.lib.hokudai.ac.jp/dspace/handle/2115/86161
https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/cjz-2020-0222
https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.4266
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1036064
Cicadas pee in a very mammal-like stream
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-cicadas-power-spray-their-pee/
[Ask the Science Couch]
Cicada sound production using the tymbal, stridulation, or wing impacts
https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-1-4020-6359-6_4279
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0118554
Patreon bonus: Periodical cicadas emerge after 13 or 17 (prime numbers) years
https://www.jstor.org/stable/2406585
https://www.livescience.com/14238-southern-cicadas-emerge-exact-prime-number-cycles.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2690011/
[Butt One More Thing]
Cicada nymph anal liquid is adhesive and mucus-like
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0044523104700686
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