not an ENT guy, but took my entire classes and lots of bio/ecology.
no clue. the high contrast "striping" makes me think it has a visual purpose. like it either "looks like" aggressive teeth to scare potential predators, or induce some other desired behavioral effect.
maybe? even though i know a little about cicadas (i'm in Brood X territory) you could honestly tell me the three simple eyes in the center of the head can shoot laser beams, and i would be like, "yeah, ok, makes sense." arthropods are wack af to me.
![[CW: close up bug face] What is the function of the weird ribbed noses on the front of a cicadas face?](https://hexbear.net/pictrs/image/abfb458b-7942-4892-a8e1-378878b3ed41.jpeg){kind=link}
not an ENT guy, but took my entire classes and lots of bio/ecology.
no clue. the high contrast "striping" makes me think it has a visual purpose. like it either "looks like" aggressive teeth to scare potential predators, or induce some other desired behavioral effect.
that's my out of my ass guess.
Maybe more surface area = more good for sensors?
maybe? even though i know a little about cicadas (i'm in Brood X territory) you could honestly tell me the three simple eyes in the center of the head can shoot laser beams, and i would be like, "yeah, ok, makes sense." arthropods are wack af to me.