¹     How would you like to spend most of your lifetime growing up? What if you had to spend all that time underground? Cicadas (si-KAH-duhs) do just that.
 
²     Female cicadas lay their eggs in slits in the bark of a tree. When the eggs hatch, the young cicadas, called nymphs, are tiny. They fall from the tree and dig into the soil. They feed on the juices in the roots of trees. Nymphs molt four times or more as they grow bigger and bigger. Molting means that they shed their skin. They spend most of their lives in the ground. They may stay in the dirt for one year or several years!

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