Billions of cicadas are about to take over the Northeast
Billions of cicadas are about to take over the Northeast
Seventeen years ago, President Bill Clinton was acquitted in impeachment proceedings, Bill Gates had just become the richest man in the world due to skyrocketing Microsoft stock, SpongeBob SquarePants debuted, and billions of cicadas buried themselves into the ground beneath the Northeastern United States. While no one will exactly be bringing the '90s back anytime soon, the 17-year cycle cicadas are about to reemerge for the first time into a totally different world.
As temperatures warm, billions of cicadas will begin to crawl out of the ground in Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia, Fox News reports . The insects will complete their lifecycles after calling for, and finding, mates, then die after about a month or a month and a half. Three different species make up 2016's "Brood V."
When the cicadas eventually come out, the swarms are so big they create a racket and can be as dense as 1.5 million bugs per acre. But there is still some time yet to buy earplugs: Ground temperatures will need to hit 64 degrees before cicadas emerge to mate and lay their eggs. Then it will be another 17 years — 2033 — before the offspring come out again. Jeva Lange
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Happy Science Friday!! I know some of you hate these guys, but I love them.
We've had it in Chicago, once every 17 years of course. One time it was really bad. The insects were so thick on trees you couldn't see any bark. When they started to die, the carcasses were all over the sidewalks to the point you couldn't walk down the block without stepping on them.
We had that 17 years ago, but last year, we hardly had any. In truth, cicadas are in trouble due to their long sleep underground. Many of their nests have been destroyed by building homes. I would really hate to have a summer without hearing them.
I like to accessorize with their skins.
I love the cicadas, which we call katydids... Their sound gives me a headache, but their red eyes are neat. We have them almost every year, even though they are supposed to be only once every 17 ears, seems like they have smaller 'gatherings" every year, and a huge one every 17 years... I think they are all once every 17 years, but there are different groups...
Anyway, they are a part of summer!
They are rampant in China, and their singing outperforms my tinnitus. However the Chinese are able to keep their numbers in check because they cook and eat them and use the dried bodies as an ingredient in Chinese Traditional Medicine. Although I've been offered to taste them, I've not succumbed to it. However I have used the traditional medicine that uses their dried bodies as one of the ingredients, which has to be boiled and the liquid consumed for a very bad chest cold, but although it tasted horrible, it didn't help at all.
You should be glad you didn't have to eat them raw ...