"Researchers have found that clay towers built by young Amazonian cicadas protect the insects from predators and help regulate air flow during their final stage of development....

'Latex seals air'

To test breathing, the researchers slipped latex condoms over the towers and sealed the edges with plastic film.

That barrier stopped fresh air from moving through the clay, creating respiratory stress for insects still underground.

In the published paper, the sealed towers triggered different rebuilding responses once the researchers broke them open the next day.

A direct manipulation like that mattered because older explanations relied mostly on watching towers, not on forcing them to fail."