The 17 Year Cicadas
moultano
Creator of ns_shiva. Join Date: 2002-12-14 Member: 10806Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Gold, NS2 Community Developer, Pistachionauts
Creator of ns_shiva. Join Date: 2002-12-14 Member: 10806Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Gold, NS2 Community Developer, Pistachionauts
<div class="IPBDescription">They have finally arrived</div> This (as any Cincinnatian has been hearing in the local press ad nauseum) is the year of the return of the 17 year cicadas. In the next few months, five billion of them will come out of the ground in the greater Cincinnati area to have constant sex and then die in droves. I have a few memories of the last time they came to Cincinnati: feeding them to our 13 inch fish, collecting their carapaces off of the bark. I remember them mostly as a blurry image of noise and darting black bodies up among the trees. I also remember running shrieking back into the house after one landed squarely on the back of my neck and started buzzing. I was three years old at the time, and while cicadas are pretty big normally, they seem a lot bigger to a three year old. Ironically, I've been looking forward to their return ever since.
Cicadas spend most of their lives as grubs digging tunnels underground and eating tree roots. Then after 17 years in the dark, they wait until the ground warms up and a strong rain loosens the topsoil, and then emerge. They come out of the ground in their nymph stage. They are about an inch and a half long, with a light brown translucent carapace. They are also unspeakably cute. They crawl along slowly, they are very soft and fat, and as far as animals go they are infinitely trusting.
They finally began to emerge today after the rain. Several started crawling up my legs as I stood barefoot in the dirt. Their little claws are designed to be strong enough to support their fat bodies while they go through the next phase of their development and are well suited for climbing up just about anything. There was a continuous parade of them marching up the trunks of the trees. All told, there were probably several hundred in my front yard alone.
It's an interesting feeling having a dozen baby cicadas all agree that you, in fact, are a tree. They tickle. I spent about an hour playing with them and carrying them out of places where they are likely to get stepped on or run over. This was all pretty incredible, but the real magic didn't begin until the sun went down.
Once the nymph cicadas are out of the ground and have gotten sufficiently high on whatever plant they happen to emerge next to, they dig their claws in and park themselves securely. Their shells then split open and a fragile pale white adult cicada emerges. The entire process from the time they come out of the ground to the time they become a fully functional cicada takes about six hours. I had hoped to see this happening at some point, but I had no idea how impressive it would be.
Its probably hard to imagine, but a cicada emerging from its shell is incredibly beautiful, especially at night. They sit suspended by their abdomens from their shells, their white wings wet and crumpled, their bodies ivory and still. Slowly their soft fresh legs strengthen and grasp their shells, and they pull the rest of their damp bodies out into the air. Their wings unfurl in perfectly symmetrical patterns and pulsate as blood begins to awaken them. Their red eyes shimmer. They remain perfectly still clinging to their old carapaces as their diaphanous wings and delicate bodies dry, white shadows among the leaves. Slowly their bodies darken, their wings turn orange, and eventually they fly off. Imagine this process taking place over several hours with tiny invisible movements. Now imagine hundreds of them hidden among the trees and plants doing it in unison.
My mom and I sat outside with the flashlight for several hours watching them and taking pictures. This was without question the most beautiful natural event I have ever seen.
<a href='http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/rmoulton/cicadas/' target='_blank'>pictures</a>
<img src='http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/rmoulton/cicadas/new%20adult%20wings%20expanded.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Cicadas spend most of their lives as grubs digging tunnels underground and eating tree roots. Then after 17 years in the dark, they wait until the ground warms up and a strong rain loosens the topsoil, and then emerge. They come out of the ground in their nymph stage. They are about an inch and a half long, with a light brown translucent carapace. They are also unspeakably cute. They crawl along slowly, they are very soft and fat, and as far as animals go they are infinitely trusting.
They finally began to emerge today after the rain. Several started crawling up my legs as I stood barefoot in the dirt. Their little claws are designed to be strong enough to support their fat bodies while they go through the next phase of their development and are well suited for climbing up just about anything. There was a continuous parade of them marching up the trunks of the trees. All told, there were probably several hundred in my front yard alone.
It's an interesting feeling having a dozen baby cicadas all agree that you, in fact, are a tree. They tickle. I spent about an hour playing with them and carrying them out of places where they are likely to get stepped on or run over. This was all pretty incredible, but the real magic didn't begin until the sun went down.
Once the nymph cicadas are out of the ground and have gotten sufficiently high on whatever plant they happen to emerge next to, they dig their claws in and park themselves securely. Their shells then split open and a fragile pale white adult cicada emerges. The entire process from the time they come out of the ground to the time they become a fully functional cicada takes about six hours. I had hoped to see this happening at some point, but I had no idea how impressive it would be.
Its probably hard to imagine, but a cicada emerging from its shell is incredibly beautiful, especially at night. They sit suspended by their abdomens from their shells, their white wings wet and crumpled, their bodies ivory and still. Slowly their soft fresh legs strengthen and grasp their shells, and they pull the rest of their damp bodies out into the air. Their wings unfurl in perfectly symmetrical patterns and pulsate as blood begins to awaken them. Their red eyes shimmer. They remain perfectly still clinging to their old carapaces as their diaphanous wings and delicate bodies dry, white shadows among the leaves. Slowly their bodies darken, their wings turn orange, and eventually they fly off. Imagine this process taking place over several hours with tiny invisible movements. Now imagine hundreds of them hidden among the trees and plants doing it in unison.
My mom and I sat outside with the flashlight for several hours watching them and taking pictures. This was without question the most beautiful natural event I have ever seen.
<a href='http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/rmoulton/cicadas/' target='_blank'>pictures</a>
<img src='http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/rmoulton/cicadas/new%20adult%20wings%20expanded.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Comments
Would be absolutely great to see some pics, if at all possible.
Kudos to the nice imagery, I never imagined them being actually adorable...
Cicadas are without a doubt the most fun things you can have... I'm waiting for our Cicada season as well down here in Australia, as I missed it last year. No doubt I will try and make time to just sit down and enjoy a hot cloudless day with my favourite buddies - the cicadas <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Again, thank you for the amazing post. Wonderful imagery, and about a topic I love... It really brings to mind the perfect day.
Thanks.
Cicadas are without the most fun things you can have... I'm waiting for our Cicada season as well down here in Australia, as I missed it last year. No doubt I will try and make time to just sit down and enjoy a hot cloudless day with my favourite buddies - the cicadas <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Again, thank you for the amazing post. Wonderful imagery, and about a topic I love... It really brings to mind the perfect day.
Thanks. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Thanks. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->
I wrote this originally for my <a href='http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/~rmoulton/blog.html' target='_blank'>blog</a> which I am trying to make worth reading. I'm glad you liked it.
<img src='http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/rmoulton/cicadas/nymphs%20climbing%20flowers.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
<img src='http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/rmoulton/cicadas/emerging%20adults.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' /><img src='http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/rmoulton/cicadas/new%20adult%20wings%20expanded.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
<img src='http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/rmoulton/cicadas/resting%20adult%20darkened.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Here are the rest of them <a href='http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/rmoulton/cicadas/' target='_blank'>Cicadas!</a>
Anyway, I HATE THOSE THINGS! I despise large insects. THe last Cicada season I was mowing the grass next to a cornfield and they started jumping all over me, stupid things! That, and they are really noisy and make a huge mess of my front windshield!
w00t for Ohioans! <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Oh yeah, I completely forgot about the noise, this wont be fun <!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/confused.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused.gif' /><!--endemo--> .
I looked up a bit of information on cicadas:
1) Most cicadas have 2- to 8-year-long life cycles, and are unsychronized - some will come up every year.
2) Periodic cicadas are all synchronized, coming up at the same time. There are three 17-year species (which are found in northern states) and four 13-year species which are more southern.
3) Though they're called "17-year locusts," they're not actually locusts (which are more closely related to grasshoppers). They're harmless.
On another note, do cicadas only show up where trees are? I'm living in a pretty treeless area right now, so I'm not sure whether I'm going to get to see many. If I don't, that would kind of suck, really is a spectacular sight.
It's been raining quite a bit recently, and I've seen no signs of the bugs. I think the Metro Detroit area's in the clear.
On another note, do cicadas only show up where trees are? I'm living in a pretty treeless area right now, so I'm not sure whether I'm going to get to see many. If I don't, that would kind of suck, really is a spectacular sight. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Eep! Nebraskan!
I remember a few years ago getting swarmed with them during a summer camp I was at... Been quite some time. Probably the 8s or something. Is there a 13 variety, by chance? For some reason that sounds familiar, though it was by no means 13 years ago <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
It's like things I only see on nature shows xD
It would really be worth a trip to USA to see such things.
But the little buggers must pop out elsewhere too?
You really caught the moment in your writing =)
BTW, I'm nowhere in America <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
It's a good thing though, I was always afraid of bugs or buglike creatures.
I was outside in the dark a few minutes ago, and there were some great big beetles buzzing around, aiming for the lights. Cockchafer beetles, apparently (stop s****ing). Quite cute, cuddly, hairy little beasties, but I immediately thought of the swarming American cicadas. Why do you Americans have to outdo us Europeans in everything? <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Nice photos, by the way - and I think I'm going to have to come and visit in, ooh, 2021 with my 500-megapixel, coin-sized digital camera.
<b>British beetles!</b>
<img src='http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/encyclopaedia/hutchinson/images/1916n079.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
<a href='http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/encyclopaedia/hutchinson/m0007530.html' target='_blank'>(Nicked from here...)</a>
I'm glad somebody else thinks so. I was beginning to think that my mom and I are the only people who actually find them cute. Everyone else I've showed the pictures too thinks they are pretty disgusting.
They're like tiny six legged gorge/skulk hybrids that come out of their shells and become gorge/lerk hybrids. <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<img src='http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/flamethrower-vietnam.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
I got have no drain brammage from TDD
Lets say something happens every n years, since neither 13 and 17 are evenly divisible with anything but themselves and one that means if n isn't 1 that occurance won't ever coincide with the cicadas arriving 2 times in a row...