Cicada

Welcome to the Cicada Quiz, where you can test your knowledge and learn more about one of the insects with the longest lifespan! These insects are known for their buzzing and clicking noises that sound like a chorus of songs, as well as their cyclical lifespans.

Take the quiz to test your knowledge of Cicadas if you believe you know everything there is to know about them or if you simply want to learn more about these musical insects!

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What is a cicada?

A type of insect

A type of reptile

A type of bird

A type of mammal

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How long can cicadas live underground?

2-17 years

5-7 years

1-3 years

3-5 years

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What is the purpose of the loud buzzing sound cicadas make?

To attract mates

To mark their territory

To communicate with other cicadas

To scare predators

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What is the scientific name for cicadas?

Cicadoidea

Coleoptera

Hemiptera

Orthoptera

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How many species of cicadas are there?

10

50

Over 3,000

100

Types Of Cicadas

This insect belongs to the order Hemiptera and is in the superfamily of Cicadoideam that is split into two families – the Cicadidae, which has over 3,000 species found throughout the world, and the Tettigarctidae, which has two species and can be found in Australia. A few of these Cicadidae species are:

• Little Mesquite Cicada (Pacarina Puella)
• Northern Dusk-Singing Cicada (Megatibicen auletes)
• Empress Cicada (Megapomponia Imperatoria) – one of the largest species is found in Malaysia
• Large Brown Cicada (Graptopsaltria nigrofuscata)
• Giant Cicada (Quesada gigas)
• Beameria venosa

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What is the lifespan of a periodical adult cicada?

6 months

1 week

3 months

1 month

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What is the purpose of the cicada’s long, sharp mouthparts?

To sting predators

To suck liquid from plants and trees

To dig underground tunnels

To bite and chew food

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What is the largest species of cicada in the United States?

Neotibicen winnemanna

Tibicen pruinosus

Diceroprocta apache

Magicicada septendecim

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What is the smallest species of cicada in North America?

Tibicen lyricen

Tibicen linnei

Beameria venosa

Tibicen auletes

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What is the purpose of the cicada’s wings?

To protect their body

To repel water and bacteria

To attract mates

To make noise

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What is the range of the cicada’s hearing?

20-40 Hz

10-20 Hz

60-80 Hz

40-60 Hz

Interesting Facts

Cicadas are known for the chorus of song that they make when they emerge from the ground. There are two different types of this insect – annual, which usually appear each year and have a longer lifespan and periodical, which appear most years in different brood cycles, some of which are 13 years, some of which are 17 years and have a shorter lifespan. They also have a few known ’ememies’ like the digger wasp (Sphecius speciosus), known as the cicada killer, and the parasitic fungus Massospora cicadina that eats their internal organs and turns them into ‘zombies‘. Here are more interesting facts:

• Male cicadas sing together in choruses by vibrating their tymbals, an organ found in their abdomen.
• They spend most of their lives underground as nymphs.
• Cicadas are not locusts, which are a type of short-horned grasshopper.
• The periodical species have one of the longest lifespans of any insect.

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What is the purpose of the cicada’s exoskeleton?

To attract mates

To help them fly

To make noise

To protect their body

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What is the purpose of the cicada’s eyes?

To see movement

To see predators

To see colors

To see light

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What is the purpose of the cicada’s antennae?

To smell

To taste

To see

To hear

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What is the purpose of the cicada’s legs?

To jump

To swim

To walk

To fly