The Architectural Swarms of the Kunderang Cicada

In the remote Kunderang Wilderness of Australia, strange, spire-like structures rise from the forest floor. For decades, they were misidentified as a unique form of termite mound. But recent research has revealed a far more bizarre origin: they are the architectural creations of a cicada, Kunderangia architecta.

This remarkable insect has a 19-year life cycle. When the swarms emerge from the earth, they engage in a behavior unknown anywhere else in the animal kingdom. Using a mixture of soil, sap, and enzymes from their own shed exoskeletons, millions of cicadas work in unison to build massive, intricate towers. This unique building material, a super-hard composite researchers have named “chitin-resin,” allows the structures, called “Son Towers,” to last for decades.

Entomologist Dr. Alistair Finch, the leading researcher on the species, has determined that the towers are not nests or defensive structures, but massive acoustic amplifiers. The process of building is a form of “stigmergic architecture,” where millions of individuals follow a simple set of rules with no leader, resulting in a complex, intelligent design.Dr. Finch’s theory of “bio-acoustic amplification” suggests that the precise internal geometry of the Son Towers is mathematically optimized to amplify the cicadas’ mating call, allowing the sound to travel for hundreds of kilometers over the dense forest. The cicadas don’t just sing their song; they build a cathedral for their chorus. The discovery of the Kunderangia architecta is a stunning example of swarm intelligence and the extraordinary, complex behaviors that can emerge in nature.