Fossil of Primitive Cicada - Hind Wing

Around 165 million years ago, prehistoric cicadas were found all over the Earth, but strangely, well-preserved fossils of prehistoric cicadas have only been found in China.

The bodies of cicadas decompose easily, while the wings are relatively easier to preserve. The wings of prehistoric cicadas had a wide span and often had a spotted pattern, whereby they are also called the “butterflies of the Mesozoic period”. Prehistoric cicadas went extinct in the middle of the Cretaceous period, subsequently followed by the end of the dinosaurs.