Brood X of the Cicada's is possibly the widest spread and largest population of the crazy weird insect and is due to make an appearance this year. They are pretty much spread across the whole East Coast of the US, though wisely have determined hanging out around San B's neck of the woods isn't a good idea. I am pretty sure they will be around my way (and my first proper cicada brood), though some suggest that Brood XIII is more dense in Illinois when it emerges (due 2024**).
Obviously all claims related to Cicadas on an anecdotal basis are very twisted - your average insect that goes 16 out of 17 years not being seen and then arriving in populations as dense as 1.5 million bugs per acre has a habit of doing that.
Prof. Raupp, emeritus professor of entomology at the University of Maryland says "This is a wonderful opportunity for millions of people to witness and enjoy a remarkable biological phenomenon in their own backyard that happens nowhere else on the planet, truly a teachable moment".
Most everyone else says "it is like living through a plague".
Anyway - this is the thread for all the Cicada fun of 2021. Set your ground thermometer for 17.9 ?C (64 ?F). That's when this crew of inch long weirdos emerge from 16 years underground to make buzzing noises all summer long and then die, leaving a pile of rather gross carcasses to be swept up until they come back in 2038. Which is about when my son will be graduating college.
** 2024 looks like it will be a doozy here as a 13 year brood and a 17 year brood are due to show up in the same year. Plus an election year. The joy.
Obviously all claims related to Cicadas on an anecdotal basis are very twisted - your average insect that goes 16 out of 17 years not being seen and then arriving in populations as dense as 1.5 million bugs per acre has a habit of doing that.
Prof. Raupp, emeritus professor of entomology at the University of Maryland says "This is a wonderful opportunity for millions of people to witness and enjoy a remarkable biological phenomenon in their own backyard that happens nowhere else on the planet, truly a teachable moment".
Most everyone else says "it is like living through a plague".
Anyway - this is the thread for all the Cicada fun of 2021. Set your ground thermometer for 17.9 ?C (64 ?F). That's when this crew of inch long weirdos emerge from 16 years underground to make buzzing noises all summer long and then die, leaving a pile of rather gross carcasses to be swept up until they come back in 2038. Which is about when my son will be graduating college.
** 2024 looks like it will be a doozy here as a 13 year brood and a 17 year brood are due to show up in the same year. Plus an election year. The joy.
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