The black and scarlet cicada belongs to the subfamily cicadettinae. Its distribution is mainly confined to South and S.E.Asia.
As the name suggested, it is bright red (scarlet) with a smattering of black color. The sound it produces is a melodious chee, chee, chee, which I believe is used to attract its mate.
During the month of April, and the beginning of the raining season, they begin to emerge from the ground as small red larva to moult on low vegetations. Before the wide use of pesticides, they can be found in abundance where the pucuk manis or the shu chai choy (sauropus androgyrus) is cultivated. now vegetable farmers considered them as pests as they tend to weaken the stems of the plants where they lay their eggs on.
In certain parts of China the discarded exuviae are use as prescription for migraine and ear infection. In many parts of Southern China the cicadas are collected and sun-dried to be use as treatment for amenorrhoea, rabies and scrofula. It is also reputed to have potential anti cancer activities.
Whatever its uses (good or bad), this beautiful cicada should be treasured as part of our biodiversity and ecosystem as they too are God's creation.
Ref: (Records of huechys sanguinae in Singapore), Ali Bin Ibrahim and T.M.Leong.
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a) A small hole made by the cicada larva when it emerges from the ground. |
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| b) After emerging from the ground, the larva moves around looking for a plant or a twig to climb on. |
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| c) When it finally gets a good grip on the twig, the skin will harden. |
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| d) Squeezing and wriggling will help to split open the skin at the head section. |
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| e) The head and the front portion of the body will emerge slowly. |
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| f) Slowly leaning backward. |
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| g) Breaking the tracheal thread connections. |
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| h) After about 10 minutes,and until the legs are harden, it will flip up and hold the exuvia. |
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i) Pulling out its lower abdomen, the cicada will slowly expand its wings. |
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j) Hanging there for sometime to allow its wings to expand and harden. |
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k) When fully extended, the wings will change to a smoky grey color. |
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| l) From smoky grey the wings turn black. The cicada has to expel some liquid before it can move off. |
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| m) Chirping away, they finally attract their mate for reproduction. |
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n) After the eggs have been fertilized, the female will deposit them under the bark of the host tree with a powerful tube. |
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o) These are the stems of the sauropus androgyrus plants after the cicada had laid its eggs. |
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