Periodical Cicada, Seventeen Year Cicada

We had them last year (2007) in Southampton, NY. They were wonderful songsters, and welcomed evening visitors when they emerged. We LOVE cicadas.

Magicicada septendecim
A large periodical cicada with broad orange stripes on the underside of the abdomen, and with orange coloration on the sides of the thorax behind each eye and in front of the forewings.
The calling song phrases are said to resemble the word "Pharaoh."

Female periodical cicadas have a pointed abdomen with an ovipositor for laying eggs. The ovipositor is sheathed and not clearly visible.
Males have a blunter abdomen and white, ribbed tymbals located on the sides of the first abdominal segment, just behind the point of attachment of the hindwings.
Males Magicicada septendecim are bigger than the female.

5 days into the emergence...at least 3 1/2 weeks to go. No going barefoot in the yard. I like the noise...but the mess is disgusting.

The most fun about it all is letting our hens run wild in the front yard filling up on buggy treats.

I am already tired of having to brush off the garden seating every time I want to use them. Plus...a lot of pupa are still emerging. They climb onto anything above ground level, including feet. And the chickens haven't even made a dent in the thousands of cicadas covering all vertical surfaces.

This was the most depressing summer because of these monsters. I had planted my garden last year, not knowing about the impending infestation. One crab apple got hacked to bits, although my japanese maples healed up within 10 days! The cicadas sawed into anything with a woody base, even an 18" tall japanese maple! Time will tell how my large collection of Rhododendron will fare; they haven't lost much wood, but they also haven't healed up completely. The dogwoods didn't fare well, either; one of the Cornus mas was halved in size from the damage, and they're very slow to heal as well.
The sound of the cicadas was wierd; it sounded like a spaceship was landing off in the distance. I actually liked the noise, but I detest these things! In 17 years it won't bother me so much, since my p... read morelants will all be large enough and well enough established to withstand the pruning.

Found a song about these guys, and it made me laugh. Thought that if you were looking these bugs up, it would give you a giggle, too.
here are the lyrics:
You walked out on me back in nineteen hundred nine-dee.

You left my poor heart danglin' like a bug-shell on a tree.
Now just when I got focused you come back like a locust.
Cicada lover -- stay away from me.
So leave me alone. Don't write, don't fax, don't phone.
How the heck can we communicate when all you do is drone?
I can live with ants and roaches but to you it's buenas noches!
Cicada lover: (Buzz off) yer on yer own.

and the website:
http://www.cicadalove... read morer.com/bugsong.htm

Hopefully the song is not too much off topic. Personally, I love these guys, but they DO make a mess.

These are a messy hoard of bugs that cover everything when they emerge.

The nymphs feed on sap from tree roots, where they remain for either 13 or 17 years before emerging from the soil , split their skins and become adults.

They are food for birds and other animals, but create such a mess, that I'd just as soon never see another one.