Cicada emerging from its exoskeleton
Under cover of darkness a cicada emerges from its old exoskeleton and takes on its new form as a winged insect.
Like the kissing bug, cicadas are a type of "true bug", all of which use a straw-like mouthpiece called a "rostrum" to feed.
In the case of the cicada, most of its life is spent underground, sucking sap from the roots of a tree or other plant. They leave this sheltered existence only to mate and reproduce, after which they soon die.
Photograph by Richard Seaman
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