Why I am staying home this May

The Weekenders · Post by **The Weekenders** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 1:27 pm

U.S. National - AP
Periodical Cicadas to Emerge in May

By DAN LEWERENZ, Associated Press Writer

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - After 17 years of relative quiet, Mother Nature is bringing the noise. Periodical cicadas, a species of the grasshopper-like insects best known for the scratching, screeching "singing" of the males, will emerge this May, filling forests in more than a dozen states. Almost as abruptly as they arrive, they'll disappear underground for another 17 years.

"Why do certain insects take only one year to develop, and others take two or three? It's just part of their genetic programming," said Greg Hoover, senior extension entomologist for Penn State University.

There are at least 13 broods of 17-year cicadas, plus another five broods that emerge every 13 years. The last to emerge, Brood IX, was seen last spring in parts of West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina.

This year, it's time for Brood X, the so-called "Big Brood," to surface. Its range stretches from Georgia, west through Tennessee and to isolated pockets of Missouri, north along the Ohio Valley and into Michigan, and east into New Jersey and New York.

"This is one of those years we kind of dread," said Paris Lambdin, professor of entomology and plant pathology at the University of Tennessee. "We had an emergence a couple years ago around Nashville, but nothing like what we expect this one will be."

No other periodical cicada covers so much ground. And with hundreds of them per acre in infested areas, the noise will be hard to miss.

"In 1987, coming back from the University of Maryland on Interstate 95, when you drove through a wooded area you could hear the insects," Hoover said. "This would have been mid to late June, with the windows down, and then it would shut down when you got to a field or a non-wooded area."

In rare years, a 13-year brood can emerge to add its collective voice to that of a 17-year brood.

"Out in the Midwest is where things get really hairy," Hoover said. "Missouri, Illinois, Indiana have combinations of 17-year-brooded individuals and 13-year-brooded individuals, and they can have overlap."

There's no question that the class of 2004 will be a nuisance. The cicadas will make plenty of noise, and adults are poor fliers that tend to bump into things.

But as swarms go, these cicadas aren't that bad. Adults don't feed on leaves, so they won't strip the trees, but they do lay their eggs in twigs.

"The females, once mated, will lay pockets of eggs along twigs that will cause structural weakening of those twigs," Hoover said. "Eventually they may drop off and fall to the ground, the nymphs will drop off and fall to the soil, and that's where this species is for the next 17 years."

Leel · Post by **Leel** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 3:01 pm

YUM - FEEDING FRENZY!!!!

chas · Post by **chas** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 3:35 pm

I think it was about five years ago that we had a confluence of 17-year and 13-year cicadas. I got some great pictures of a few. They're pretty photogenic if you're into the sort of triangular with bulging green eyes look. I know I'll regret saying this come August, but I kind of like the sound of cicadas in the summer. It beats the hell out of winter.

RonKiley · Post by **RonKiley** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 4:29 pm

Another great year for bass fishing. Some of the best bass fishing I have ever experienced in Maryland was during the cicada summers.

Ron

spittin_in_the_wind · Post by **spittin_in_the_wind** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 5:04 pm

The sound of cicadas is one of my all-time favorite sounds!

Robin

susnfx · Post by **susnfx** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 7:47 pm

You're worried about noise?!? We have Mormon cricket infestations here when millions and millions of the hideous huge crickets swarm through areas of the state. On highways their squashed bodies create an inches-deep slippery slime that causes car accidents and must be removed by snow removal equipment! They strip nearly every living plant in their path and cause millions of dollars of damage to crops. Personally, I'd vote for noise.

StewySmoot · Post by **StewySmoot** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:14 pm

Our classmates tormented us about it but all I can say is they are probably thinking thank God for those guys with size 13 shoes now.

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:47 pm

Time for "locust shells"!

chas · Post by **chas** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 9:14 pm

susnfx wrote:You're worried about noise?!? We have Mormon cricket infestations here when millions and millions of the hideous huge crickets swarm through areas of the state. On highways their squashed bodies create an inches-deep slippery slime that causes car accidents and must be removed by snow removal equipment! They strip nearly every living plant in their path and cause millions of dollars of damage to crops. Personally, I'd vote for noise.

I remember a summer about 25 years ago when the same thing happened in New England with gypsy moth caterpillars. A freight train got stuck in a valley, and somebody I knew couldn't get his car up his driveway. ICK!!! Plus, entire swaths of area were completely stripped of any leaves.

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 9:35 pm

A cicada on its way out, but with just a little buzz left, makes an excellent cat toy. Looks like a fun time coming.

Jerry Freeman · Post by **Jerry Freeman** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 9:51 pm

When I was a kid I lived in Evansville, Indiana, near the confluence of the Ohio and Wabash rivers (see article above). I used to climb a tree at dusk and find a place to linger as it got really noisy. The cicadas would zoom around me and alight on the trunks and limbs of the tree within a couple of feet of my perch. Extremely cool.

Best wishes,
Jerry

Jeferson · Post by **Jeferson** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 2:12 am

susnfx wrote:You're worried about noise?!? We have Mormon cricket infestations here ...

Susan, you're taking anthropomorphism to new heights.

Jef

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 4:58 am

Jeferson wrote:
susnfx wrote:You're worried about noise?!? We have Mormon cricket infestations here ...
Susan, you're taking anthropomorphism to new heights.

Jef

SLC, Utah - In a rare performance that crosses denominational lines, the world-renowned Mormon Cricket Choir joined the Chipmunk Choir for a benefit concert of chorales and anthems by composer Johannes Sebastian Bach. L. B. Weekender, who was in attendance, is reported to have said, "it was like the chirping of the angels." It is no exaggeration to say that the place was abuzz.

Norma · Post by **Norma** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 5:54 am

EW! Looked up cicada on the web...I'd rather have a good old Canadian woodtick or mosquito land on me!

RonKiley · Post by **RonKiley** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 7:46 am

When I was in high school I had a friend that would collect a dollar from everyone and then he would eat a live cicada. He got rich and well fed at the same time. Not an act that anyone would copy.

Ron