Digital View Finder

empty cicada nymph shell

What about cicada for freezing seasons? I’ve been tempted to feature this weird looking and high-pitched droning insects that echoes my coughing at night. It is getting the end of the summer season here in Thailand and our well-veined winged friends has finally come out of their shells. They normally have large eyes wide apart on the head. I mistakenly called them crickets before but later I found out that they’re not.

More information can be found in wikipedia, such as-

There are about 2,500 species of cicada around the globe, and many remain unclassified. Cicadas live in temperate to tropical climates where they are among the most widely recognized of all insects, mainly due to their large size and remarkable acoustic talents. Cicadas are sometimes colloquially called “locusts”, although they are unrelated to true locusts, which are a kind of grasshopper. They are also known as “jar flies”. Cicadas are related to leafhoppers and spittlebugs.

Cicadas do not bite or sting, are benign to humans, and are not considered a pest. Many people around the world regularly eat cicadas: the female is prized as it is meatier. Cicadas have been (or are still) eaten in Ancient Greece, China, Malaysia, Burma, Latin America and the Congo. Cicadas are employed in the traditional medicines of China.

In Thailand a total of 152 species with 5 additional varieties and one undescribed species from 35 genera have been identified. Records for eight species are reported for the first time in addition to the first specimens of the genus Muda and fifteen new species adding to the diversity of the cicada fauna of Thailand. (The Cicadas of Thailand; Hemiptera:Cicadidae)

In relation to culture - Cicadas are commonly found in mainland China, Taiwan, and Japan. They had religious significance in ancient China, and symbolized reincarnation or immortality, as the Chinese compared the cicada’s periodic molting of its shell with a person’s leaving the physical body behind at the time of death. Bronze vessels as old as 1500 B.C. ornamented with cicadas have been found in Chinese tombs, along with white pottery and jewelry featuring cicada designs. During the Han dynasty (202 B.C. to A.D.) 220, the Chinese carved small cicadas out of precious jade and placed them in the mouths of the dead.

To enumerate some of its medicinal uses, it is used for treatment of fever and associated seizures; skin rashes; and such eye disorders as conjunctivitis, cataracts, and blurred vision. Also effective in relieving itchy rashes and eczema. Its special use is for the treatment of rashes or skin eruptions that occur in the early stages of measles or chicken pox. According to traditional Chinese medicine, the sooner the rashes appear, the shorter and less severe these diseases will be. Cicada is said to prevent or reduce muscle spasms by reducing the tension of the striated muscles.

Question- do people swallow them alive?
Answer- Cicada may be prepared as a decoction, which means that the insect shells are boiled down to a concentrated broth or tea to be taken internally. Other forms of cicada preparations include ground powder and water and alcohol extracts.

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Photo Assignment #2 for Freezing Seasons
Theme: Insects in season
Title: Cicada
Photo taken: AIT (outside our home)

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Many thanks to A. Siroy for organizing our photo club activity.
Other assignments could be viewed on CREATIVELENS.