Mating insects causing petai tree to 'weep'

KEPALA BATAS: The mystery surrounding the "weeping" petai tree in Kampung Lembah Raja here has been solved.

It was discovered that the water droplets from the 10m tree have nothing to do with divine intervention, but were merely the urine or liquid waste produced by a swarm of cicadas, known as riang-riang among the locals, which were mating on the tree trunk and its branches.

An expert on cicadas, Prof Dr Zaidi Mat Isa, dismissed the notion that the droplets had healing powers.

And he advised those who had been drinking the water to stop doing so although it did not have any harmful effects.

Zaidi, who has been studying the riang-riang species since 1990, retired from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in 2006. He said the water droplets were most likely produced by female cicadas which got excited during the mating process.

"The water droplets could be in the form of pee, or produced as respiration from an excess of liquid consumed by the insects prior to the mating session," he said yesterday.

Zaidi said the volume of liquid produced by the insects depended on their numbers.

He added that the presence of cicadas could be verified by the buzzing sound produced by male insects which tried to attract female partners.

Checks by the New Straits Times yesterday showed there was a swarm of cicadas on the trunk and branches of the petai tree. There were dozens of people looking at what they perceived to be a rare phenomenon.

Several enterprising villagers have erected makeshift stalls to sell refreshments and food at the site.

It was reported earlier that some of the local folk had been drinking the water droplets, believing that they have healing powers

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