Another Female Oviposits in the Terrarium

Another Female Oviposits in the Terrarium

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. Just like I reported previously, I discovered a second cicada female ovipositing in a dead portion of the lilac branch that I set up as a food source. I looked around for the male to see if he was still alive. I couldn't find it anywhere. I took a couple movie clips and some pictures of the female ovipositing. Check them out.

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? I will need to conduct careful experiments for next year.

The images below are of a few closeup shots of the female ovipositing. Still shots are better than what you would be able to see in the video anyway.