Posted on 01/13/2024 3:32:23 AM PST by week 71
Tennessee is set for a storm of cicadas not witnessed in more than 200 years.
The nosey, red-eyed winged insects hibernate in either 13- or 17-year cycles, but the state will soon be buzzing with both - and experts have predicted there will be one million per acre of land.
The infestation will likely see hundreds, if not thousands, of trees 'damaged beyond recovery,' a professor at Tennessee Tech University has warned.
The last time these two groups, Brood XIII and Brood XIX, co-emerged was in 1803, the same year as the Louisiana Purchase and when Thomas Jefferson was president.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
We made it past 1803. I assume we’ll get by this time, too.
Are these what we call Jar Flies that drive us nuts in late summer every year or are they a different noisy insect?
You are in for a TREAT!
Clean the cicadas, put them in a bowl of salt water overnight. Rinse again, drain, remove legs and wings and the outer body, the parts that the cicadas are going to discard when they get ready to hide for the next 17 years. At this stage they look like really tiny shrimp.
Put them in a big bowl, add a splash of cream sherry or Chinese wine, a chopped scallion or green onion, a tsp of minced ginger root, a tsp of Chinese huajiao prickly ash buds or American black peppercorns. Marinate for 10 or 15 minutes. Drain when ready to stir-fry them.
Get your wok or pan hot, add cicadas and a liberal splash of cooking oil, stir-fry until crispy. Add a splash or two of soy sauce, stir-fry until the soy sauce is mostly gone, remove the cicadas to a serving bowl, sprinkle liberally with salt and maybe some ground black pepper. Or add a little minced hot pepper and a little minced or crushed garlic, just before removing them from the heat of frying.
We're doomed I tell ya!
Probably. The seasons they emerge, one can barely talk over the raucous outside.
Not only are they nosey, they are noisy. What a racket!
Wasn’t something like this with cicadas supposed to happen about three or four years ago?
You are in for a TREAT!
******************
ROTFL. My dogs love to catch and eat them. Me...I can do without them.
A friend of mine from Toronto came to visit in August about 20 years ago and one managed to get back to Canada with her. She said it didn’t last long but while it did it reminded her of TN.
We have them every year in August. There must be different varieties. I dread having more than the yearly ones out.
Actually, the two broods only overlap in Illinois. Most places have annual cicadas, which are different species than the 13 and 17-year broods.
ANY AND ALL decorative trees in your yard should be netted before the onslaught.
Also, do what you can to protect woody landscape bushes and any flowering plants with branches.
In your area, the gorgeous redbud, dogwood and foxglove will suffer the brunt of their “attack”.
Many will die.
They lay their eggs under the bark, which they slice into with their ovipositor.
For humans, they are a nuisance and for insect-phobes, they are a nightmare.
They will fill the air around you like dragonflies in the swamp...only worse.
At the height of the hatch, they fly everywhere in short bursts and will land on anything at the end of their flight, often humans.
They are fun and I plan on going back to Chicago this summer to enjoy a day among them again.
I recall 1959 or 1960 event at grandparent’s in Nashville, very loud but my fears were allayed when my father said they do not bite. No damage to trees or shrubs but I like Mayfly hatches better, great for fishing! Oh, no here comes an insurance waiver for these insects.
I have a lot of Redbuds and they have been damaged by the annual infestation but not killed. I hope they feast on English Ivy. That stuff is a plague.
Fire up the climate change brigade over another highly predicable event.
EC
I live in Tennessee, shall I wear a mask.
I hear tree frogs in the summer and see lightning bugs.
I’m close to Tennessee and my daughter lives there..45 minutes away. I’m good noise wise I’ll just take out my hearing aids.
We have those too. I love hearing the little peeper frogs on the creek in the evenings. I’m in S.E. TN in the corner between GA and NC and close to Chattanooga. Everything bites, stings, or makes noise in summer.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.