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.
In my larval stage I am called a nymph and I can live in the. ground for many years. Some periodic broods or nests of cicada larvae live in the ground for 17 years! I emerge from the ground and attach myself to trees, plants, or structures until I pop out of my skin and become an adult. As an adult, I only live from 2 weeks to 40 days.