This process is called sublimation. The opposite (deposition) is where a gas turns directly into a solid. Sublimation occurs if the pressure and temperature are right for the specific substance, so that the solid phase in a phase diagram borders the gas phase.
Most cicadas go through a life cycle that lasts from two to five years. Some species have much longer life cycles, such as the North American genus, Magicicada, which has a number of distinct broods that go through either a 17-year or, in some parts of the world, a 13-year life cycle.
Magicicada spp. spend most of their 13- and 17-year lives underground feeding on xylem fluids from the roots of deciduous forest trees in the eastern United States. After 13 or 17 years, mature cicada nymphs emerge at any given locality, synchronously and in tremendous numbers. After such a prolonged developmental phase, the adults are active for about 4 to 6 weeks.