Circadas, Is This the Year?

I thought we had circadas in 2004, but I see evidence of them now.

I've seen several around our property, too. My husband said Fox News reported this would be a bad season for the buggers.

Are we about to have fun or what!
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/03/0329_040329_cicadas.html

I've stopped planting saplings. No sense but to wait until they do their thing and go bye bye. As it is, I may have to go out and put netting over several hundred plants. We'll see.

I saw the answer to my question on Fox News today. My dad always said circada are nature's way of aerating your yard. I guess there has to be something good about them. Everything has a purpose according to God's plan.

Aeration! There ya go! That's the spirit! And to think I've had my husband out mowing the lawn with a pushmower in a pair of old golf shoes already twice this year! Shhh, we won't tell him!

We haven't seen any of the 17 year cicada emergence here but our son 20 miles south of us (near Chicago) is in the middle of it. Monday night we drove down there to watch the emergence begin. We saw about 2 dozen cicadas shedding their skins. The neighbors probably thought we were weird sitting in the yard with our flashlights. The next morning my son was finding empty skins all around the yard. A few facts I just read:

Billions of cicadas will emerge in the Midwest U.S.

In heavily wooded areas as many as 1.5 million per acre will cover trees

This years emergence is called Brood XIII

A single male's courtship call can reach 90 decibles

Ravinia Festival (an outdoor music festival near Chicago) has rescheduled its classical music concerts so they won't have to compete with the cicadas

They do not harm humans.

Birds, squirrels etc. and especially dogs love to eat them and they are high in protein

here's a picture of one we dubbed "dummy" because while all around him cicadas were busy molting, he roamed around trying different places to attach but couldn't find anything he liked. We tried placing him in good spots that seemed popular with the others but he wouldn't stay put. We watched for about two hours. We became quite fond of him.

And here's one who has completed molting. Quite beautiful, I think. By the way my daughter-in-law read that when the cicadas are all out and singing the decibel level can be equal to that of a jet engine. Now that could be annoying. Ear plugs anyone?

This cracks me up- "here's a picture of one we dubbed "dummy" because while all around him cicadas were busy molting, he roamed around trying different places to attach but couldn't find anything he liked. We tried placing him in good spots that seemed popular with the others but he wouldn't stay put. We watched for about two hours. We became quite fond of him."

Trying to place a Cicada in a few good spots to sort of lend a helping hand would have been something we would have done. It's terribly funny seeing it in print!

So far only June bugs around me. We've got our earplugs and brooms though! We're ready for them. My husband is going camping with the boys next weekend. I'm sure he'll have a very restful weekend- not!

In south Texas we have cicadas every year (I think there are 40 species in the state of Texas and one is called the giant whining cicada) Here is the "giant cicada" http://www.texasento.net/Cicada.htm
The first year I lived here, I thought something was wrong with my car, but it was cicadas in the trees making a horrible noise. They were mesquite cicadas, very small but really noisy.

We have annual cicadas up here too. They're called dogday cicadas. I don't know how many species there are.

The emergence of the 17 year cicadas is pretty special. "It's one of the greatest insect emergences on earth." - Daniel Summers, entomologist at the Field Museum in Chicago. People get kind of excited about it. Some enjoy it and some not so much.

By the way, in southern Illinois they have 13 year cicadas instead of 17 year. Weird huh?

Gee, I kinda like to hear that giant whining cicada.

Since reporting the few I spotted early I haven't seen any more.

This message was edited Jun 5, 2007 5:06 PM

Although the first cicadas emerged May 22 in my sons neighborhood in Glenview IL, the big emergence got going in earnest this past weekend. The experts said a couple of rainfalls softened up the ground making it easier for them to get out. My sons yard is littered with hundreds if not thousands of cast off skins and also living and dead cicadas. The singing wasn't terribly loud but his house is not in a heavy emergence area. We're going to go out to some of the forest preserves this weekend when the little critters should be singing in full force.

That may be our problem. Currently we are under 2" this month.

ok, I had never heard of or seen one of these little bugs before moving to the great USofA five years ago. And all I have to say is this.....I never missed a thing! And I do not believe anyone who says it is a 17 year cycle because they have been out in full force in my backyard for the past five years running. So from the Canadian transplant ......I miss the peace and quiet of back home!!!

What did you say?! Between the train, the quarry trucks, and now the cicadas, I can't hear a thing when I'm outside. I think they're gross! Our teller at the bank told us she got one in her hair! Yuck! I'm not sorry I missed it before either dove. The only good thing is, they seem to prefer the forest preserve down the street to our neighborhood. And the birds are really, really happy.

My cats like to play with them and the cicada killers eat a lot of them. They are just starting here, not at full noise level yet!

The cicadas you hear every year are annual cicadas. Their emergence is not synchronized like periodical cicadas so some emerge every year. They do not produce the massive spectacle that the 17 year cicadas do.

The 17 year cicadas are one of nature's great shows.

They have arrived in Northern Illinois now in force. We saw them this weekend at our son's home in Glenview, IL. Brood XIII is the Northern Illinois brood. It contains 3 species. Each has its own song. We heard two distinct songs - can't say for sure if we heard the third. They were loud but we're trying to find a heavier emergence area to hear the maximum volume they can produce.

According to National Geographic.com periodical cicadas are found only in the United States east of the Great Plains. There are 15 broods of periodic cicadas. Each brood resides in a specific region although there may be some overlapping. Those in the northern part of their range are the 17 year and those in the south are the 13 year cicadas.

You've got to admit it's fascinating! And...this is cool... their genus is Magicicada.

Yeah, they're noisy, but they're harmless. They only come around once very 17 years, all they do while they're here is sing, mate, and lay eggs. They hardly even eat. They provide snacks for all kinds of animals, and they are utterly defenseless.

Come on everyone, let's celebrate our cicadas, even the ones that get in our hair.

Hear hear! They certainly are sumptuous snacks for all kinds of critters and it's a feeding frenzy out there! Their arrival has been well advertised around here with many signs saying "Celebrate Our Cicadas". We're sort of excited too and we're going out to some of the forest preserves this coming weekend also.

I know they're harmless, but they're so BIG. Big bugs freak me out. Lots of people have been coming out to get a closer look. I'll try to hear the different songs, that is cool chris.

We have the annual "dogdays" cicadas here, too. They lasted several weeks -- but it seemed to be forever. The year before we lived in town and there were some but not many. Now we live in the boonies with a wooded area behind us. While they were here, we could not sit out on the deck as the noise was absolutely deafening.

Yes, they are big and some would say they have a face only a mother could love and just between you and me, PrairieGirl, I would rather not have one in my hair either.

Did you know that while the Magicicada cicada usually has red eyes, there are genetic variants with white eyes, blue eyes and grey eyes (about one in a million).

Now check this out - I bet you'll get misty eyed:
http://www.bio.indiana.edu/~hangarterlab/broodx/broodxmovies/NSFmovie.htm

Yeah, its a very local kind of thing. In my area we have the annual (dogday) cicadas but apparently not in numbers sufficient to be deafening. 25 miles south where my son lives an outdoor conversation is nearly impossible when the dog day cicadas are singing in late summer.

Chris

I am very moved by your contribution and watched your video from start to finish. Great find!

editing to add-
I feel the looooooove!

This message was edited Jun 12, 2007 6:12 PM

Glad you enjoyed it.
Goodnight,
Chris

I watched the video, and I enjoyed it too, somehow, I am still not moved by the whole thing. Heartless me! Ok, fascinated by the movie but thinking the whole time...OMG they are going to get stuck in my hair and what if one fell down the back of my shirt while I am gardening and why couldn't they go to some trees not so close to me. :)

Now I am probably worse off for that information in the video, I actually have not seen them as much as heard them and saw the shells everywhere here.

So there are 2 different kind then? The 17 year ones and the Dogdays? Well the annual ones are very loud here in my neighbourhood, some days so loud that you can not sit outside for a few weeks each year because it is to noisy.

I guess I need to change my viewpoint and try to find some way to adapt to my new environment. I do have to admit I was somewhat fascinated by the whole thing when I moved here and this is the first information I have found about them. But I must admit I do not think I would pack up and go looking for them if they decided to move neighbourhoods!

dovebydesign,

Not feeling the love, huh? Okay, I'll admit if a cicada dropped down my shirt while I was gardening, the neighbors would have a good laugh because I'd be jumping around and screaming. I'm fascinated by spiders too, but if I find one crawling on me I panic. It's a primal thing I think.

Anyway, whether they thrill us or annoy us they'll soon be gone and won't be back until 2024.

Chris

Chris~Thanks for ruining enya for me. J/K!! LOL Not feeling the love here either. But I'm very glad you posted the info. about the blue-eyed ones being genetic mutants. I heard that this morning at work, that someone found a blue-eyed one, and I freaked. Gives new meaning to the name Ol' Blue Eyes, hardy har har.

Love is in the air!

As long as love is not in my Hair!

..Then I really don't care.

lol

Just had to tell you all....
Last wednesday we took my sister-in-law (who was visiting from Washington, near Seattle), on a 17 year Cicada safari. She actually timed her visit in hopes of seeing them. We followed our ears and found a very active area in the landscaping surrounding a big company parking lot near Glenview, IL. We saw thousands of cicadas, living and dead. They were crawling up our pant legs and landing on our shirts (none in our hair). Every tree and shrub was crawling with them. We heard the songs of all three species, and we even watched a female laying her eggs (up close and personal). My sister-in-law was very excited and took lots of pictures. We spent a good 45 minutes there. The only bad part was trying not to step on them.

I'll bet you're sorry you missed this, dovebydesign and PrairieGirl.

Anyway, we're a big hit with my sister-in-law. We delivered the goods!

Chris

lol, she is not a true western girl is she? Just kidding, it is sort of this odd phenomenon here in the Midwest, but I am pretty sure it is a first to have a timed visit for the bugs....tehehehe.

My cousin from California visited me on spring break. She had never seen Lighting Bugs. She was so facinated she took some back in a jar to show her students.

This message was edited Jun 26, 2007 12:11 PM

yes, I had never seen them either when I moved here. They are cool. My daughter was 6 the first time we visited here and we were outside and they started 'coming on' and she was so impressed (so was I). It was one of the first things she talked to her class about when returning to school that next fall!

Aaaaahhhhhh!!!! Incoming!

The sound is deafening! we are in the valley of yon mountains, what we call "God's Country". It is one of the greenest views and the autumns are flat spectacular with the nursery industry (over 300) in just our county alone ------ but the Cidada's are EVERYWHERE! In the mornings coming throught the mountains (in my WHITE truck) the sound of the splattering of hundreds of these irratic pattern flying objects is just gross.

I have nasty purple spots all over the Yukon and I look like a moving Dalmation with a bad hair day - lol!

My kids think its great, and I wish I could see the joy in it also, but I just don't see that happening. (they love to count the splats as we go down the road).

I know I sound just like a whiner and I realize this is God's plan - but really. do they have to multiply like this???

I do believe that Alfred Hitchcock was not talking about the birds - I think it was the Cicadas - lol!

Greenwood nursery, I believe you may be experiencing Brood XIV of the17 year cicadas. Is that right?

Did you view the video I posted the link for above? It might soften your heart toward the little critters a bit.

Ours, who emerged last year were Brood XIII. We were quite proud of them. We truly enjoyed the event but I must, in all fairness, admit we do not live in the emergence area and had to drive about 15-20 miles to see them. The squashing and splattering we were able to mostly avoid.

But seriously, I do think they must have the most fascinating life cycle of any insect and they are truly unique in the world. There are only 15 Broods and they all exist in the U.S., east of the Great Plains, nowhere else in the world! Celebrate your Brood XIV! You won't have to put up with the splattering again for 17 years.

But I get them every darned year here...whats up with that??????

Their life cycle is an unusual event, but I will disagree with chris_h on one point.

The 13 and 17 year cicadas are destructive.

If you don't live with them (you said you had to drive to "visit" them), then you haven't seen firsthand the damage they inflict on woody plants while laying their eggs. That little ovipositor, wielded a hundred or more times (multiply by billions of female insects), makes little zippers along the stems of the plants in which they are placing their eggs. This usually results in the death of the stem where the deposition has taken place.

On large healthy trees, this is an ugly "natural" pruning, but doesn't typically end up as any permanent long term damage. On trees under stress (imagine last year's midwestern drought) or on small plants, this can sometimes be a death sentence. I can tell you that nurserymen (and others in the green industry) are no fans of cicadas.

Of course, this is the natural course of events in the real world of plants, animals, and insects. Life may look cute, but it does have its dark side.

I say: eat more cicadas!

I might argue that it takes me a huge amount of time cleaning up after the pesky little creatures as well as the destruction of lost limbs and branches they leaf behind....lol.

Not to mention the day I was sitting out on my patio enjoying a nice evening and plop one ends up in my glass of wine. I know I am whining or is that wining....lol but it can be very horrid if it is your yard they are copulating in.