Posted on 05/20/2007 9:59:37 PM PDT by hole_n_one
The Associated Press
It sounds like a bad horror movie. But it’s actually the name of the billions of cicadas expected to emerge this month in parts of the Midwest after spending 17 years underground.
The red-eyed, shrimp-sized, flying insects don’t bite or sting. But they are known for mating calls that produce a din that can overpower ringing telephones, lawn mowers and power tools.
Brood XIII is expected across northern Illinois and in parts of Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana. Cicadas live only about 30 days as adults, and their main goal is mating.
They don’t harm humans, although they are clumsy and might fly into people. Birds, squirrels and pets, especially dogs, love to eat them, and they are high in protein.
“They’re going to have quite a meal. It’s going to be like Thanksgiving for them,” said Tom Tiddens, supervisor for plant health care at the Chicago Botanic Garden.
They are periodical cicadas, which are only found in the eastern half of North America. The annual, or dog-day cicadas, that appear every summer are common around the world.
The last massive emergence of periodical cicadas was in 2004, when Brood X emerged after 17 years underground in parts of 15 Eastern states. Some broods emerge after 13 years.
A single male’s shrill courtship call can reach 90 decibels, which is equivalent to a kitchen blender.
At the Chicago Botanic Garden, spokeswoman Gloria Ciaccio joked that her advice for brides holding outdoor weddings will be to put the tent flaps down and turn the music up.
they are clumsy
A single male’s shrill courtship call can reach 90 decibels, which is equivalent to a kitchen blender.
But they are known for mating calls that produce a din that can overpower ringing telephones, lawn mowers and power tools.
sounds like teenagers to me
LOL... one of our dogs eats ladybugs like they were skittles. He loves them.
My toddlers were fascinated with these things. They buzz around the ground in circles when they get older and can’t fly.
On long Island the yearly cicadas made a racket every august and july. At night you hear them whirring in the trees. When I moved, I actually missed them.
Countdown until someone claims all the extra cicadas this year is a result of global warming...
10, 9, 8, 7, ...
My dog (Cairn Terrier) loves to eat Cicados too. And you’re right. It’s crunch, crunch time!
Not sure I blame them.
Not sure there's anything else. At least they're goal oriented.
Be careful. I had a patient come in with severe hives after he ate a bunch of sauteed cicadas back in '04.He cooked them in wine, butter and garlic. He had a shellfish allergy. They had the case on the news. I even submitted it to the medical journals.
If they could import the bugs to California you could have roasted bugs.
Do they eat bees?
Man do I hear THAT!!!!
Here in Florida we plug our ears because of the love bugs which come twice a year want to trade??
I love the ones that show up every year, their song is pleasant. I hate the ones that show up every 17 years, the sound is monotonous and sounds like a phaser set on overload; they are far more numerous, and when they die, they stink.
Do the Florida Turnpike rest areas still have drive-thru sprayers to wash the bugs off your winsheild?
I wish the politicians would go underground for 17 years and quit tormenting us.
There are certainly annual cicadas, and they do make a racket, but there was no mistaking the 17 year variety, whose 17 year cycle came to fruition on the East coast about three years ago. The noise was a high pitched whine that was deafening.
Every 221 yrs . both species emerge together. :^)
A few yrs. ago I had the 'privilege' of being in the Pittsburgh area when the 17 yr. cicadas were emerging.
Wow, what a noise. Trains of them crawling up tree trunks.
A month or so later all the trees get 'pruned' as the egg laying kills the branch from about pencil size out to the tip.
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