Another Cicada Oviposits in Captivity!

Another Cicada Oviposits in Captivity!

I was just about ready to head out the door to check St. Patrick cemetery again but I decided to stop first and check the Cicadas in my new terrarium. I discovered another female ovipositing in the lilac branch. This is the second female that has oviposited in captivity. I first noted ovipositing females back on August 20th, 2004. I looked around for the male to see if it was still alive. I couldn't find the specimen anywhere. I took a couple of movie clips and some pictures of the female ovipositing. Check them out below.

I noticed that the female rested a few times in between ovipositing. I finally did discover the male Cicada alive and well. I picked it up and discovered that it was still quite rambunctious. I put it on the lilac branch to feed. The ovipositing female has been laying eggs for about a 1/2 hour and is still going strong even though it rests a few times in between.

I am wondering if the male and female mated as previous or is the female laying unfertilized eggs? I may have to isolate some females and observe any oviposition without males being present.

If they did mate and the male is still alive then maybe males have the ability to mate with more than one female? Also, since they are in such close proximity, it may be that calling is not necessary for cicadas to mate. I will need to conduct careful experiments for next year.