Posted by Helen on: 06.05.2007 /
A couple of weeks ago we were told the cicadas were due out any day. We still haven’t seen any in our own village but we’ve been hearing that there are lots out less than a mile west of here. On Saturday morning my husband biked over there and told me we should all go look. He said as he biked west he reached a place where you could hear a constant loud background hum and there were empty shells all over the tree trunks. (The cicadas crawl up the treetrunks as nymphs, then, clinging to the tree, emerge from their shells as adults)
We did drive through there Saturday afternoon. I went back early Sunday morning with my camera.
When I got far enough west, I saw tree trunks covered in shells as my husband said, with several having fallen on the ground.
It was warm and humid and didn’t smell too good, probably because of all the decaying shells (and dead cicadas).
The cicadas are about an inch long with bright red eyes.
They aren’t much good at flying. I saw as many fall out of trees onto the ground as I saw flying from one tree to another.
I posted a couple of short video clips on my blog to show the sound difference between where the cicadas are, with the hum, and and where I live, about a mile away.
Comment by: Elaine
1Helen,
Did you notice all the perfectly round little holes in the ground surrounding the trees? Fascinating.
What time of day were you there? The noise gets louder as more come out and as the temperature rises. It is amazing how loud they get.
Yes, they do stink. I had forgotten about the odor.
All that aside, they are very interesting looking bugs. You are right, they don’t fly very well - don’t seem to have much sense of direction.
Warning - be sure to check your car’s radiator as they get trapped in the grill work of cars - dead, of course.
My memory is their life cycle is only about 2 weeks. Ours lasted about 4 weeks total. Just as the noise slowly gets louder as more are birthed - it slowly gets quieter as they slowly die off.
Is there a lesson to be learned in any of this? While we think of their life as only 2 weeks long - what is happening those 17 years they are in the ground?
Comment by: Helen
2Elaine,
I think I saw the holes somewhere but most of the trees were surrounded by grass or the ground around them was covered in cicada shells.
I took the photos and video clips (on my blog) early - before 7 a.m. I think - and I was guessing they hadn’t reached peak noise levels yet. Even so the sound was striking especially since it was so localized. I don’t hear it at all at my house but it was very evident a mile west of here.
I biked over there so my car is ok, thanks :). (We were in the car the day before but only briefly drove through the area)
Yes I’m sure we could learn lessons from this about how not everything important is visible or noisy ;-)
Comment by: Doreen A Mannion
3We’re experiencing a scaled-down cicada invasion, nothing like the every 17 years or 10 or whatever it is. Fact is, I didn’t even know we had ‘em until Sunday.
I donned long sleeves and long pants (in the 90 degree weather) because I noticed the hillside, which some might call weedy but I prefer to call au natural, was covered with BLACKBERRIES!
As I approached the hillside with puppy behind me, suddenly I heard this really loud hissing sound, which scared the heck outta me. I just was not expecting that particular sound! At first I thought SNAKE, but then the happy fella/gal flew up & away, as well as they fly, lol.
BTW, I picked 4 cups in about 15 minutes. They are soooo delicious! (Blackberries, I mean, not cicadas!)