Brood XIII: the 17 Year Cicada
Scheduled to Emerge in May, 2007
Brood XIII is scheduled to arrive in the upper Midwest within the next week, most likely before June 1st. Brood XIII is the official name for this event, when billions of the insects climb out of the ground, molt, and mate. Fortunately, the cicadas don't sting or attack. They are more of a nuisance than anything else.
According to cicadamania.com, a sighting has been reported in Peoria, Illinois as of May 20, 2007. This sighting (with photograph) indicates that the region will be overrun by these insects for the next thirty days.
These flying insects have prominent red eyes, short antenna, and clean wings. They grow to approximately one inch long. Juvenile cicadas are called "nymphs" and live underground, feeding off root fluids. A few weeks before emerging from their seventeen year life underground, the cicada makes it way up through the ground towards the surface.
On the night of their emergence, they climb a vertical object (like a tree or a telephone pole), and molt into adulthood. They spend four to six days on their vertical perch, allowing their exoskeleton to harden. After this "quiet" period, the cicadas sing to attract a mate. (Only the male cicada sings.) Their song is extremely loud (up to 90 decibels), comparable to power lines or a kitchen blender. To hear a cicada's song click here.
According to one study, as many as 1.5 million cicadas can be found in one acre of land. The cicada population is usually heavier in forested areas.
Cicadas can cause some minor damage to trees, especially young, tender samplings. Experts suggest not to apply pesticides, especially with the bee die-off this year. You can try hosing off young trees and bushes with plain water. You can also try placing a gardening net over tender plants. It's best just to be patient - the entire event will be over in thirty days. (Another reason not to use pesticides is because other animals love to eat these insects, including dogs.)
Some people love this event which happens every seventeen years in the area, buying t-shirts and souvenirs to commemorate the occasion. Some even eat these protein-rich insects. For those who aren't fond of the cicada, their consolation is that the insects will be back underground in about thirty days, and they won't be back for another seventeen years.
Published by B Mathison
Beth Mathison has work published in The Foliate Oak (including the 2008 and 2009 annual “best of” print editions), 365tomorrows.com, mysteryauthors.com, Drops of Crimson, and Colored Chalk. She has stori... View profile
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- Cicadas don't sting or attack
2 Comments
Post a CommentGreat info on this!
Actually this is not the only year for periodicals. Brood X emerged in 2004. There are several groups of Cicadas that hatch periodically, each having their own brood distinction. Consequently, brood X made its debut on the day my wife and I got married in 2004. It was interesting to get out of the car at the honeymoon and see her dress covered in the large bugs. We honeymooned in a wooded lodge. Tomorrow is our anniversary, and I will never forget our cicada-filled afternoon. One even got stuck in the car and started singing as we drove to the honey moon. He was tough to find, but we ended up making a pit stop to search the car and get our little troubador to vacate. Talk about funny! It was interesting to witness the carnage from our vantage point at the Birdhouse Cafe of all the woodland birds dining on cicadas while we were trying to keep our faces straight.