Cicadas: The Hidden Army Beneath Our Feet 🦗

Discover the dormant army of billions of cicadas that emerge from underground every 13 or 17 years to molt, mate, and die.

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Every 13 or 17 years, billions of cicadas emerge from the ground to molt, mate and die. Adult cicadas only live a few weeks above ground, but you'd be hard pressed to ignore them -- they are extremely loud! Rose Eveleth explains everything you need to know about these noisy insects, admitting that there's still some things we just don't understand.

Lesson by Rose Eveleth, animation by Eli Enigenburg.

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View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/cicadas-the-dormant-army-beneath-your-feet-rose-eveleth
Dig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/cicadas-the-dormant-army-beneath-your-feet-rose-eveleth#digdeeper