The Cicadas are coming! (1656 hits)
Category: Science & EnvironmentalRating: 1.65 on 28 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Tina (View user info) at 2004-04-22 09:33:36 EDT
Millions of them.
Think about 1.5 million per acre.
The largest insect outbreak of the year is almost here. Sometime in May the adult stage of the Periodical Cicada (Magicicada sp.) will emerge from the ground after 17 years of hiding. Under trees all over Maryland, dime-sized "exit holes" can be seen in the dirt. The cicadas have burrowed up to the surface, where they are waiting for the strategically precise moment known only to them to rise from the earth at twilight by the millions as these nymphs make a mad dash for the trunks of nearby trees.
These aren't your everyday cicadas. The cicadas you hear every year during the summer are called Annual or Dogday Cicadas. Periodical Cicadas are smaller, only reaching one and a half inches and their eyes are a startling red.
And they only come around every 17 years.
The young cicadas, called nymphs, have been quietly feeding off small tree roots and developing through five juvenile stages for exactly 17 years. After emergence, the nymphs will climb up tree trunks and other vertical objects, shed their exoskeleton, and transform into adults.
Then the males will "sing" in choruses to attract females. The deafening noise of just one of these cicadas has been measured at 100 decibels from 60 feet away...about as loud as a power lawn mower. Now multiply that by a million.
The cicadas emerging during this cycle have been labeled "Brood X". Pretty much every year a brood of Periodical Cicadas emerges somewhere in the eastern United States. But Brood X is the largest. Those that remember the last outbreak in 1987 compared it to an Alfred Hitchcock movie. They were on the sidewalk, on the trees, on the porch, on the street. And they remember their buzzing, clicking, thrumming, overwhelming roar. When settlers first encountered them they thought it was a sign of the Apocalypse. They were even incorrectly named "17-year Locusts."
But these cicadas do not bite or sting people or destroy crops. But they will be flying into you and your car and you will step on thousands of crunchy exoskeletons and their noise will drive you crazy, especially if you live in a heavily wooded area like I do. I live in the country. There will literally be millions per acre.
The predicted date is around May 21 for Maryland and the cicadas will stay until the middle of July. Depending on local weather patterns and a few other variables, this event will occur from early spring through mid-summer throughout just about all of the United States east of the Mississippi, with the largest "emergences" occurring in all of New Jersey, Maryland, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Indiana and in portions of Iowa, Missouri, Georgia, Illinois, Ohio, Alabama, Mississippi, Virginia, North Carolina, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York. The emergences will be small in many of these states, and if you live in an urban area you won't be seeing anything surprising. But I will, and I can't wait.
No one knows how these guys count the years, or how they synchronize their emergence to the hour over a span of 18 states. It could be they count the springs, but as for the exact hour, no one knows.
So why 17 years? It's a brilliant strategy they've evolved. By only appearing every 17 years, predators never have a chance to specialize in eating them. Further south Periodical Cicadas come out every 13 years. By choosing prime numbers, the cicadas minimize any chance of having overlapping cycles. And by appearing in massive numbers simultaneously, they never have to worry about being wiped out by predators before they are able to reproduce. Adults live about four to six weeks with the sole purpose of mating and laying eggs. And just like that, they die. And people will be crunching down on the millions of carcasses left behind.
But after six weeks, the eggs the females have laid in branches will hatch and the tiny nymphs fall to the ground where they burrow into the soil and spend the next 17 years below ground, starting the whole cycle again.
Amazing, right? Sure, it's not a comet, but it's still a really cool natural event you only get to witness a few times in your life.
Cicadas are edible, too. They are best when eaten right after they've molted. They taste like the roots they eat...I've heard them compared to pistachios. Sautéed in butter...good eating. They may not be Atkins-friendly, though.
And I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords.
User Reviews
Submitted by stupid_juveniles at 2004-05-13 11:12:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
WE HATE CICADAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
we're 11....heehee......heeheee.....
fuck the cicadas
Submitted by Metal_Immortal (user info) at 2004-05-11 22:44:14 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I live in Cincinnati too and it's going to suck when I have to start scraping their shells off the walls of Coney Island where I work.
But I can't wait either.
Submitted by r1ptide64 (user info) at 2004-05-11 22:35:29 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
+2 for the post
-2 for copying
+1 for copying from a shitload of different places
If I'm wrong, please do your best to rape me in the anus. I'll deserve it.
Submitted by Yams (user info) at 2004-05-11 22:04:08 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Mmmm...fried locusts...Yummae! I'm hoping the city-wide spraying will do something, but hope is foolish. If they come, I'll be spending the entire summer indoors, just like a did last summer...
A thought just struck me. Every morning over the summer we swim in an outdoor 50-meter pool. Now, usually you can find lots of dead bugs in there on any given day, but this summer...Will we even be able to see the bottom? BLEH!
Submitted by i_hate_cicadas at 2004-05-11 21:41:46 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I live in cincinnati
5 billion are expected
out of all of the citites i could have moved to this year...i moved here...
joy to the world and good god.
cicadas suck
Submitted by miserableness at 2004-05-11 21:40:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I live in ohio.
out of all of the citites i could have moved to this year...i moved here...
Submitted by godking (user info) at 2004-04-27 13:54:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I live in Indianapolis. One of the highest concentrations in the country is supposed to be here. Joy.
GK
Submitted by Titinita (user info) at 2004-04-22 20:45:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Man, you guys wouldn't no cool if it swarmed your state.
Submitted by mystiamoon (user info) at 2004-04-22 18:48:46 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
It's like Uber Discovery channel.
I like it.
Submitted by bart (user info) at 2004-04-22 18:36:03 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by SausageKing (user info) at 2004-04-22 17:40:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Science is cool!
Submitted by Totally_useless (user info) at 2004-04-22 13:32:31 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
I hate these damn bugs.
I was 11 last time they came, and I hated them then.
New Jersey gets hit hard with these fuckers.
I think I'll leave the country for a couple of months.
Bastards.
Submitted by Titinita (user info) at 2004-04-22 13:03:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
El Chirper Tacos
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter or peanut oil
1/2 pound newly-emerged cicadas
3 serrano chilies, raw, finely chopped
1 tomato, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp ground pepper or to taste
1/2 tsp cumin
3 tsp taco seasoning mix
1 handful cilantro, chopped
Taco shells, to serve
Sour cream
Shredded cheddar cheese
Shredded lettuce
Directions:
1. Heat the butter or oil in a frying pan and fry the cicadas for 10
minutes, or until cooked through.
2. Remove from pan and roughly chop into 1/4 inch cubes. Place back in
pan.
3. Add the chopped onions, chilies, and tomato, and season with salt,
and fry for another 5 minutes on medium-low heat.
4. Sprinkle with ground pepper, cumin, and oregano, to taste.
5. Serve in taco shells and garnish with cilantro, sour cream, lettuce, and
cheddar cheese.
Submitted by Titinita (user info) at 2004-04-22 13:00:30 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Recipies! For all you guys in Southern Maryland, cicadas are going to be served in many places...including the University of Maryland. You may want to ask the waiter before eating those Brazil nuts...
http://www.urhome.umd.edu/newsdesk/pdf/cicada%20recipes.pdf
Cicadas are a delicacy in some countries...
Submitted by Luther (user info) at 2004-04-22 12:24:29 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
OLD news... but still interesting. And scary... anyone know where one might find a bug net big enough to cover a whole house??
Submitted by Anjie (user info) at 2004-04-22 11:36:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Well I can tell ya this much.... I'm glad to be a Californian.
Submitted by jonukah (user info) at 2004-04-22 11:35:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I was only five at the time, but I have vague memories of pulling their discarded exoskelotons off trees and thinking they were "neat."
Submitted by reallybored (user info) at 2004-04-22 10:29:20 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I fucking hate these things with a passion. They are the fucking loudest motherfuckers ever. Fuck them. Stupid flying crack-crickets.
Submitted by potatomanjack (user info) at 2004-04-22 10:11:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Whoa......
WHOA!
Submitted by Titinita (user info) at 2004-04-22 09:57:08 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Come and join the Cicadamaniacs for the Great Cicada Watch at the Cicada Patch near you, soon to be announced at the Cicadamaniacs web site at http://www.urhome.umd.edu.
Cicadamaniacs are a strange collection of graduate students and faculty engaged in a one-credit topic seminar called: Periodical Cicada, A Model System for Extension and Outreach. Their mission is to demystify the events surrounding the appearance of the largest mass emergence of periodical cicadas on the planet, an event about to commence in a few short weeks. If you have not followed the exploits of the Cicadamaniacs, you can do so by going to http://www.urhome.umd.edu and clicking on "The cicadas are coming" or by typing the word Cicadamaniacs into your web browser.
...You can also buy a t-shirt if you feel so inclined...sorry I'm a biology student, I dig this type of thing. We had a lotic ecology lab the other day where we had to wade through a creek and look for different taxa...and I enjoyed it. :)
Submitted by dohnuts (user info) at 2004-04-22 09:56:51 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Titinita (user info) at 2004-04-22 09:50:48 (#)
Ranking: 2
Well, if you didn't live around a lot of trees, then you probably didn't see anything scary. They burrow under the trees where their eggs were laid. I live in a very rural part of a very rural county, so that is why I am very excited.
Yay for cicadas! +2!
-----------------------------------
Yeah, I live in Annapolis, so that probably explains it. Big dumb me...
Submitted by Razor (user info) at 2004-04-22 09:54:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
"And I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords."
Great Simpsons reference.
I remember the cicadas swarming like a motherfucker in 1987 in Maryland.
Submitted by Circe (user info) at 2004-04-22 09:52:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Just... cool.
Submitted by Titinita (user info) at 2004-04-22 09:50:48 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Well, if you didn't live around a lot of trees, then you probably didn't see anything scary. They burrow under the trees where their eggs were laid. I live in a very rural part of a very rural county, so that is why I am very excited.
Yay for cicadas! +2!
Submitted by firefly (user info) at 2004-04-22 09:49:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by treysee (user info) at 2004-04-22 09:45:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by dohnuts (user info) at 2004-04-22 09:45:08 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
I dig cicadas... The weird thing is, I was 15 the last time the periodical cicadas made their appearance in MD, but I don't remember it being some kind of huge swarm or anything. Hmmmmm, I was also 15 when I started smoking weed, so maybe my memory is suspect...
Submitted by hendrixjrr (user info) at 2004-04-22 09:40:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I want my mommy...