News Animals

Scientists debunked a long-standing cicada myth by analyzing their guts

The idea that periodical cicadas don’t eat as adults has been put to rest

A photo of several cicadas resting on the trunk of a tree with leaves in the background.

Every 13 or 17 years, massive numbers of periodical cicadas emerge across the eastern United States, filling the air with their din as they scramble to mate.

Sarah Ross/iStock/Getty Images Plus

By Darren Incorvaia

There are at least three certainties in life: death, taxes and the periodic emergence of millions of cicadas. But one big cicada uncertainty has finally been put to rest — the question of whether the adult insects eat.