The front legs of the cicada are equipped with a burrowing structure that allows it to dig galleries during its underground life. The cicada then uses its urine, the only adjuvant available, to moisten and soften the earth to be prospected. The structure of its abdomen channels the urine through abdominal and thoracic gutters and directs it to its digging legs. The cicada's urine also contains mucin that agglomerates the earth and gives, after drying, a remarkable solidity to its burrow in which the cicada can move without causing the slightest scree.