Found this empty cicada shell this morning.
Nature at its best.
Cicadas lay their eggs in tree branches.
The nymph falls to the ground & burrows underground.
Then it spends 2–5 years there (some species much longer) feeding on tree roots.
When it’s ready it emerges usually at night.
It climbs a tree, fence or wall.
Its back splits open and the adult cicada slowly crawls out.
Within a few hours its wings harden & it flies away.
What we find is the exuvia the empty shell left behind after its final molt.
Growth often happens where nobody can see it.
Timestamp of freedom 955763
