Jingle Bells (Not)

[Webbo]

Hello folks,

I've not heard a single Christmas Carol so far this year, but things are far from quiet. Christmas here in Australia heralds the arrival of the cicadas, or to be more accurate the arrival of their adult mating stage. Near my house, the cicada pupae have emerged from underground in the last week after growing and feeding on the sap in tree roots for the last 7 years or so. This short clip was taken this morning at the end of my street.


https://youtu.be/xjGv0w15VOw

Here is a photo of the pupae shell cases after they have molted into adults.



And, a still shot of an adult.



The pupae climb a tree then molt into their winged, adult form. Thereafter, the males sing their guts out in the trees to attract a mate. When there is a hundred or so of these critters in a tree, they can make quite a racket. Our local Redeye cicada is a big bug being about 5 cm from the nose tip to the wing end. A related species is capable of 120 dbl at a distance of 50 cm and I daresay a Redeye would be up there too in song generating capability.

I'm missing Christmas Carols as they really are important for getting into the spirit of Christmas. Even carols involving snow would be welcome though they really don't fit with our season down here.

Best wishes to all for the season,
Webbo 

[Bealman]

Well that's put me off me dinner!

We get them here too, but I haven't bothered investigating in such detail.

We used to get Christmas beetles, but haven't seen any around for years.