Cicada Invasion! (Insect-Related Thread)

**iceman** · 05-17-2004, 09:49 AM

The 17-year cicada hatch is finally getting into gear in my neighborhood. I was travelling the last time this happened, so this is all new to me. They sound like a flying saucer from some cheesy old movie, but LOUD, a sort of warbling rhythmic trill.

Fortunately they don't make noise at night or it would hard to sleep, I can hear them clearly here in the house. The freaky thing is that they're all around, so the sound is omnidirectional, so it's kinda disconcerting.

The dogs are having a field day eating them, and the exoskeletons that they shed are all over the trees, little brownish ghost bugs. Supposedly the noise and number of bugs will only increase over the next couple of weeks, I can't imagine what the peak will be like, but with up to 1.5 million bugs per acre, it's guaranteed to be freaky.

Just in case anyone was interested.

**non grata** · 05-17-2004, 09:57 AM

mmmmmm mmm cicada cracklins, that's good eatin.

**bad_roo** · 05-17-2004, 10:02 AM

We get 'em all year round in southern Europe. You'll get used to it after a while. It's great when it's totally silent first thing in the morning and then one starts and the rest join in. Then it sounds cacophonous.

**teledave** · 05-17-2004, 10:03 AM

Sounds like the aliens are landing at my house, and they're landing everywhere!

**iceman** · 05-17-2004, 10:09 AM

Originally posted by teledave
Sounds like the aliens are landing at my house, and they're landing everywhere!

Isn't weird how the sound just surrounds you? I guess it's because we're used to having sounds come from a specific direction.

**Big E** · 05-17-2004, 10:13 AM

Must not be out quite as strong in my neck of the woods. They're out, but so far doesn't seem like too much. More at my folks house up towards Baltimore, but still not swarming or anything.

They're not very bright, that's for sure. I saw one take off from a bush and fly directly, head-on into a giant red door. And the strongest concentration of them at my folks' was around their metal street light.

**Lostinthetrees** · 05-17-2004, 10:16 AM

Originally posted by bad_roo
We get 'em all year round in southern Europe.

Experienced both locations. Nothing in Europe compares to the EXPLOSION of the 17 yr cicada he is talking about. Un-real swarms for 3+ weeks. Often they will almost entirely cover one side of a 4 - 5 story brick or stone building. Amazing how productive the earth is. Have a great time!!!

**Rusty Nails** · 05-17-2004, 10:16 AM

Ice,

How many are the dogs consuming? They gonna pack on weight eating all that extra protien? You should do a before and after weigh-in.

**Tippster** · 05-17-2004, 10:27 AM

Originally posted by bad_roo
We get 'em all year round in southern Europe. You'll get used to it after a while. It's great when it's totally silent first thing in the morning and then one starts and the rest join in. Then it sounds cacophonous.

No, you don't understand...

We have normal cicadas as well, the green ones come out every year. These are special 17 year Biblical-shit cicadas w/red eyes and black bodies that only swarm once every 17 years ON TOP OF the normal bugs in this remodeled swamp. It's an entomologists wet dream here right now.

Ice,

In about a week you'll notice yourself unavoidibly stepping on them and driving over them. They make a great crunchy sound. Then you're gonna get angry because you're tracking Cicada guts into your home. In the height of the hatch you will want to stay inside, because:

For some reason these bugs act like they're drunk. They'll fly right into you, a tree, your closed window, the side of a barn... it's actually funny as shit, although it hurts like a bitch if they fly into your eye (trust me.) They also get stuck in your hair, in your dog's fur, basically everywhere.

Right around that time is when the recipes start appearing in the 'Post. Do not - I repeat - DO NOT eat these things. Yeahyeah protein...blahblah "no different than crabs & shrimp" blahblahblah... don't do it.

One day I hope to meet you in person, and if you're picking a thorax outta yer molars I'm leaving.

**zion zig zag** · 05-17-2004, 10:33 AM

When I was a kid we used to catch these and june bugs and tie strings to their legs. Then we would fly them around in circles. Then their legs would fall off and you would have to start over.

**CantDog** · 05-17-2004, 10:39 AM

Do they stick around all summer? Kinda looking forward to hearing it when I get home...but I'm sure that will wear off quickly and I'll regret I wrote this.

**iceman** · 05-17-2004, 11:28 AM

Cantdog- they say they'll be gone by about the first of July.

Tipp- the only reason I'd be picking one out of teeth is if one flies into my mouth. I'd imagine riding your motorcycle would be interesting for the next few weeks.

Rusty- the fat lab is eating the hell out of them, but the skinny Shepherd isn't all that interested. Figures.

**Mcwop** · 05-17-2004, 11:56 AM

Thousands in my Baltimore yard. Mowed a lot of them this past Saturday.

**EPSkis** · 05-17-2004, 12:00 PM

Was camping with the kiddies up at Gambrill this weekend & finally found 2 of 'em. The ONLY two I've seen. Pretty cool, the first one we found had literally JUST crawled out of his shell. His wings were still wet & he was flapping away trying to dry them...Giant red eyes that were cloudy when he came out got REAL bright and REAL red within minutes....I was fascinated and disgusted at the same time.

Those shells they leave behind are just plain nasty.

My house is only 13 years old. so none there, but other than those 2, haven't seen or heard ANY up my way..But yes, Tippster's right. I've heard that with this Brood-X, there will actually be moments when they're swarming so thick that clouds of them will cast shadows. Now THAT'S disturbing.

**iceman** · 05-17-2004, 12:05 PM

EP, you're a little west of me and at slightly more elevation, there's probably a degree or two difference in soil temperature. I bet they'll be starting up soon. If there are trees older than seventeen years near your house you should have some.

**Pinner** · 05-17-2004, 12:10 PM

The last hatch was the summer I left the East Coast to move West.

Were the cicadas the final straw? You make the call.

**bad_roo** · 05-17-2004, 12:12 PM

Sheee-it. Didn't realise this was on top of the regular bugs.

**Lumpy** · 05-17-2004, 12:42 PM

Originally posted by flykdog
When I was a kid we used to catch these and june bugs and tie strings to their legs. Then we would fly them around in circles. Then their legs would fall off and you would have to start over.

Prime entertainment in North Carolina after college hoops?

**snow_slider** · 05-17-2004, 12:49 PM

This is the sound I heard yesterday in my yard:
<silence>_______________</silence>

This is the deafening sound I hear today:
WHEEEEEOHHHHWHEEEEEOHHHHWHEEEEOOOOOOO.

Cicadas => SO loud right now....

**teledave** · 05-17-2004, 12:51 PM

Originally posted by EPSkis
Those shells they leave behind are just plain nasty.

My son has made an army of cicada shells that he fights with his various army men and vehichles, he loves the way they crush underneath the wheels/treads of his various fighting vehicles.

For some reason the actual mature cicadas are not attracted to my house/lot, but all around I hear this WOO...WOO...WOO... sound that sounds just like the alien vehicles in "The War of the Worlds" movie.

As an aside, I dread the day my son figures out you can make a flamethrower from a cigarette lighter and an aerosol can. I can just picture him as a bad_roo protege.

**dewey** · 05-17-2004, 01:02 PM

Can anyone tell me how this is affecting the fly-fishing around there?
I bet trout never had it so good. Like constant cheeseburgers for them.

**Lumpy** · 05-17-2004, 01:05 PM

Cicada Hatch= Fat Trout!!! Bring It!!!!

**iceman** · 05-17-2004, 01:09 PM

I don't know about the fly-fishing, but I would imagine you're right. Tons of them must fall in the water, they're not real smart.

One kinda interesting thing is that these things live underground and feed on sap from the roots of trees. Some scientist said you can see the seventeen-year cycle in tree rings because one year out of seventeen these things aren't sucking the sap out of them so they have a big growth year.