zpostcode
periodical cicada
Apr 4, 2025 4:29 PM

  periodical cicada, (genus Magicicada), genus of seven species of cicadas known for their unusual highly synchronized life cycles and raucous choruses. Periodical cicadas are native to the eastern and midwestern United States but are not present aboveground every year. In what are among the longest life cycles of any insects, periodical cicada broods emerge in spring only every 13 or 17 years, with millions of insects materializing from the soil in a matter of weeks and dying shortly thereafter. Three species of periodical cicadas (Magicicada septendecim, M. cassini, and M. septendecula) emerge every 17 years, while the other four species ...(100 of 1093 words) Access the full article Help support true facts by becoming a member. Subscribe today!

Comments
Welcome to zpostcode comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Recommend >
dissidents in the Soviet Union and Russia
     Andrey SakharovAndrey Sakharov, 1978.(more)dissidents in the Soviet Union and Russia, critics of the regimes in the Soviet Union and 21st-century Russia. Intellectuals and artists who criticized the Soviet system were subjected to persecution, imprisonment, or exile. Opponents of the “managed democracy” of Russian leader Vladimir Putin have faced lengthy jail terms and, often, assassination attempts that have met with...
Cloud Atlas
     David MitchellBritish author David Mitchell at the Frankfurt Book Fair October 10, 2007. ©Torsten Silz—DDP/AFP/Getty Images(more)Cloud Atlas, novel by David Mitchell, published in 2004.   Cloud Atlas is a polyphonic compendium of interlacing but nonlinear parables. Divided into six different accounts spanning several centuries, Mitchell ranges from the journal of a 19th-century American notary to the post-apocalyptic memoir of a...
Freedom Caucus
     Freedom Caucus founding memberRepublican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio is one of nine lawmakers who helped found the Freedom Caucus.(more)The Freedom Caucus is a group of lawmakers within the U.S. House of Representatives made up of the most conservative wing of the Republican Party’s congressional members. The caucus, an outgrowth of the 2009 Tea Party movement, represents a shift...
esotericism
  esotericism, a category encompassing a diverse range of religious traditions that are typically included together because of their shared cultural marginality or their focus on imparting teachings to a select group. The concept emerged largely in 19th-century western Europe as a means of categorizing various traditions with a much longer history in European societies, including Hermetism, Kabbala, Rosicrucianism, ceremonial magic,...
Information Recommendation
Contact
     Carl SaganCarl Sagan (1934–96), American astronomer and science writer.(more)Contact, science-fiction novel by Carl Sagan, published in 1985.   (Read Carl Sagan’s Britannica entry on extraterrestrial life.)      Britannica Quiz Famous Novels, First Lines Quiz Sagan, an astronomer at Cornell University who was inextricably tied to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (the SETI program), was one of the most famous popular...
Ghostbusters
     GhostbustersActors (left to right) Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, and Ernie Hudson in the film Ghostbusters (1984).(more)Ghostbusters, American comedy film, released in 1984, that was produced and directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. Combining elements of science fiction and horror, Ghostbusters brought together the irreverent sensibility of the late-night sketch-comedy television show...
Cabaret
  Cabaret, acclaimed stage musical by composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb that explores the decadence of Berlin during the Weimar Republic amid the rising threat of Nazism. Set in a seedy cabaret called the Kit Kat Klub in 1929–30, the innovative musical tells the story of two doomed romances set against the emergence of anti-Semitism and fascism in Germany....
Brat Pack
     St. Elmo's FireActors (from left) Ally Sheedy, Judd Nelson, Emilio Estevez, Demi Moore, Rob Lowe, Mare Winningham, and Andrew McCarthy in the film St. Elmo's Fire (1985), directed by Joel Schumacher. An interview with Estevez, Lowe, and Nelson shortly before the film's release led to them being dubbed (along with several other actors) “the Brat Pack.”(more)Brat Pack, the name...
Chris Evert: A Life in Pictures
     Chris EvertChris Evert is the first tennis player—male or female—to win 1,000 singles matches.(more) From her first professional match at age 15 until her retirement 20 years later, Chris Evert had a tennis career that was nothing short of remarkable. Here are just a few of her accomplishments:   55-match winning streak before she turned 21 years old18 Grand Slam...
Castellammarese War
  Castellammarese War, conflict between the Castellammarese and Masseria organized crime families in New York City from 1930 to 1931 that ultimately led to the reorganization of the Mafia. The Castellammarese family was led by Salvatore Maranzano, who was born in the Sicilian town of Castellammare del Golfo. The Masseria family was led by Giuseppe (Joe) Masseria.   During Prohibition, bootlegging was...
capital punishment in the United States
  Capital punishment is legal in some U.S. states and not legal in others. In some states it has been officially or effectively put on hold as a result of gubernatorial actions. The map and table below indicate the legal or effective status, methods, and recent history of capital punishment in each of the 50 U.S. states and the District of...
Gandhi’s Phoenix Settlement
     Gandhi's Phoenix SettlementSarvodaya, Mahatma Gandhi's home at Phoenix Settlement, near Durban, South Africa.(more)Gandhi’s Phoenix Settlement, the first ashram-like settlement established by Mahatma Gandhi, near Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Gandhi and his family made their home at the settlement from its founding in 1904 until his return to India in 1914.   Gandhi studied law in England in his youth before...