Cicadas...question

Just watching Planet Earth on TV and they were talking about cicadas hatching every 17 years only...have heard of this before, but in NZ they seem to be here every summer! Anyone know why this difference between NZ and other countries?

Imagine if all the available cicadas, only 1/17th of which hatch in any year, hatched all in one year! What a racket!

17 years ago..... lots of cicadas, all over the place, did their thing and went underground. This year, they reamerged. 16 years ago, another generation of cicadas went underground and they will turn up next year. 15 years ago, the next generation of cicadas went underground and they'll show up in two years time..... 14 years ago....... 13 years ago....... 12 years ago.... 11 years..... 10 .... 9 ..... 8..... etc 1 year ago, a whole generation of cicadas went underground and they'll turn up in 16 years time etc etc etc ad infinitum. Amazing little buggars aren't they!

Yakut

the 17 yr ones are only one species, in one area of one continent. northeastern North America around the eastern canada and great lakes. down through the eastern seaboard to ney york or thereabouts.

NZ has lots of different species of cicadias, dunno offhand but it's double figures somewhere. some of those are annual, some are a 3 yr laval stage, some are 5 yr. Have a look around, you'll see large green, small green, black, brown and splotchy cicadas depending on where you are, time of season and what the local forestries are.

IIRC from nat geographic mag articles on the 17 yr types, they're hormonally sychronised. Every 17 yr species in an area pops up above ground in that area at once, breeds and lays eggs ready for the next 17 yrs. different areas can pop up in different years, but not different years in one area.
Sounds strange, but truth is stranger than fiction. Maybe the bigger cicada grubs eat all the smaller ones laid out of season?

Kiwi is right and that particular brand don't live here. I love cicadas. To me they mean summer, warmth, growth, new life - and I spend one hell of a lot of time rescueing them from spider webs, troughs and other places that are not good for their health.

Cheers,
Ronnie