March of the cicadas

David_S85

Here they come! Zillions of them. Every 13 or 17 years, depending on the brood, mother nature aligns to bring us this unimaginable horde of bugs. They aren't dangerous, but they are loud.



At night, the immature cicadas, which have lived in the ground for a decade and a half, emerge ready to shed their exoskeleton. By morning, they will become adults and fly off to the tops of the trees.

At the moment, our yard has a dozen per square foot. The grass is moving! You can hear the rustle of the combined masses of them as they crawl towards something tall. The experts mention that in a well-forested area, there could be more than a million per acre.

P.S. to Harry. I knew you probably think cicadas are even lower than squirrels in the animal kingdom, so since this shot had a tree, sky and the moon in it, I posted this in Field and Street.

saurora

Arggghh! I was just reading about this yesterday!!! It's true! I'm so glad I'm living in CA right now! I understand dogs think they are a delicacy? My dogs would have a tummy-ache for sure! Thanks for sharing David...(I think )

David_S85

saurora wrote:

Arggghh! I was just reading about this yesterday!!! It's true! I'm so glad I'm living in CA right now! I understand dogs think they are a delicacy? My dogs would have a tummy-ache for sure! Thanks for sharing David...(I think )

There will be more pics! I could have shown you the one where I have a bucket of live ones I picked off the sidewalk, but I will spare each and every one of you from that one.

I really want to get a closeup of an adult or two, with their big read glowing eyeballs, but without a macro lens, that probably won't happen. :cry

There are many more weeks to go with the cacada invasion. Really, it is lots of fun, unless one tries to get a nap in the afternoon. It will be very very loud in a few days.

Angelo

I remember them well from my early years in NY. I had forgotten about them until I spent a few summer eves in Arizona.

I hope they never migrate to California.

David_S85

Angelo wrote:

I hope they never migrate to California.

That bucket of live ones is already addressed to you.

David_S85

And then...
...at about 3am, the marching millions shed their old clothing and turn into adults.



Their fair body color won't last long. The skin darkens as they dry out, the wings puff up and in the morning the new adults are ready to go drinking (the trees). Their eyes maintain that eerie red.

Skippy

David_S85 wrote:

Here they come! Zillions of them. Every 13 or 17 years, depending on the brood, mother nature aligns to bring us this unimaginable horde of bugs. They aren't dangerous, but they are loud.
At night, the immature cicadas, which have lived in the ground for a decade and a half, emerge ready to shed their exoskeleton. By morning, they will become adults and fly off to the tops of the trees.
At the moment, our yard has a dozen per square foot. The grass is moving! You can hear the rustle of the combined masses of them as they crawl towards something tall. The experts mention that in a well-forested area, there could be more than a million per acre.
P.S. to Harry. I knew you probably think cicadas are even lower than squirrels in the animal kingdom, so since this shot had a tree, sky and the moon in it, I posted this in Field and Street.

Well this hardly seems fair you get zillions and zillions of them,
and we get none awwwwwwwww, that just aint right :cry

Look at you explaining yourself to Harry thats too funny
.... Skippy
.

ian408

Those are cool. Well, maybe if you don't have to live with them

We stopped along the highway for a couple of shots yesterday and watched the beatles wandering across the sand...

zini

Love the transition photos, I can't wait till they show up by me

gluwater

They must not have come up by me yet, I haven't seen any yet. Are they making that god awful noise by you yet? I remember them from 17 years age, If I remember correctly they say if you eat them they taste like mashed potatoes. How about you test that out for us David?

David_S85

gluwater wrote:

They must not have come up by me yet, I haven't seen any yet. Are they making that god awful noise by you yet? I remember them from 17 years age, If I remember correctly they say if you eat them they taste like mashed potatoes. How about you test that out for us David?

There are cicada recipes all over the net. They don't taste like chicken, but rather almonds (so they say). Potatoes? Maybe. Someone should take the initiative. Good 'ol southern cicada pancakes anyone? Not for me, but they are high in protein and low in fat, FYI.

Nick, they are only out in numbers in areas where there were a lot of trees 17 years ago and the ground hasn't been disturbed or covered up. Nighttime is when they emerge (9pm to 3am), which is when I took these. Daytime you'll only witness a tiny percentage. No racket yet. Now that it is hot again, I am wondering when that's going to start. Should have been by now. Perhaps only ONE leader general cicada is needed to teach the others to chirp?

Skippy, don't you guys get billions of cane toads marching everywhere every year or two? (not that I want to trade species with Australia). But I know you like the bugs, so this probably kills you to see us have all this fun, eh? Note to self: I still need a macro solution to get a closeup of one of their glowing red eyeballs.

Angelo

David_S85 wrote:

That bucket of live ones is already addressed to you.

Yeah? well, clearly someone wants them more than me...

skippy wrote:

Well this hardly seems fair you get zillions and zillions of them, and we get none awwwwwwwww, that just aint right :cry

:hide

David_S85

Angelo wrote:

Yeah? well, clearly someone wants them more than me...
:hide

I was just out there for an hour and decided to give my shutter and card a rest this time. Even more tonight than yesterday. In fact, there are enough buckets for every moderator and admin. Free. Totally free.

Angelo

David_S85 wrote:

I was just out there for an hour and decided to give my shutter and card a rest this time. Even more tonight than yesterday. In fact, there are enough buckets for every moderator and admin. Free. Totally free.

the sound must be deafening.

why are you collecting them in buckets?

David_S85

Angelo wrote:

the sound must be deafening.
why are you collecting them in buckets?

And a fair question that is. I fill several buckets per night and relocate them to the trees and high bushes (where they need to be). We have a sidewalk and patio in contact with two sides of the house, and they crawl up out of the ground and wander about aimlessly searching for something to climb up on.

The problem is that there are a million black ants waiting on the sidewalk and patio wanting to eat the cicadas before their skin hardens and turns black. I don't want the ants feasting too much or the million ants will quickly become a billion ants.

That, and I am more on the side of the cicadas than the other creatures at the moment. They don't hurt anyone, they aerate the lawn, and I think some birds eat them, and that's OK by me too.

And I don't want to hose off a milion squished cicadas off the sidewalk and patio, nor do I want to accidently squish them myself.

And they're easier to photograph on a tree

From last night, on a small plant covering a half a square foot. This is how many there are every single night so far this week.

.


Oh, and they aren't singing around my neighborhood just yet. That will be a whole other experience altogether.

Angelo

David_S85 wrote:

And a fair question that is. I fill several buckets per night and relocate them to the trees and high bushes (where they need to be). We have a sidewalk and patio in contact with two sides of the house, and they crawl up out of the ground and wander about aimlessly searching for something to climb up on.

The problem is that there are a million black ants waiting on the sidewalk and patio wanting to eat the cicadas before their skin hardens and turns black. I don't want the ants feasting too much or the million ants will quickly become a billion ants.

That, and I am more on the side of the cicadas than the other creatures at the moment. They don't hurt anyone, they aerate the lawn, and I think some birds eat them, and that's OK by me too.

And I don't want to hose off a milion squished cicadas off the sidewalk and patio, nor do I want to accidently squish them myself.

And they're easier to photograph on a tree

From last night, on a small plant covering a half a square foot. This is how many there are every single night so far this week.

.

well bravo for you helping the little buggers

gluwater

David_S85 wrote:

And a fair question that is. I fill several buckets per night and relocate them to the trees and high bushes (where they need to be). We have a sidewalk and patio in contact with two sides of the house, and they crawl up out of the ground and wander about aimlessly searching for something to climb up on.

The problem is that there are a million black ants waiting on the sidewalk and patio wanting to eat the cicadas before their skin hardens and turns black. I don't want the ants feasting too much or the million ants will quickly become a billion ants.

That, and I am more on the side of the cicadas than the other creatures at the moment. They don't hurt anyone, they aerate the lawn, and I think some birds eat them, and that's OK by me too.

And I don't want to hose off a milion squished cicadas off the sidewalk and patio, nor do I want to accidently squish them myself.

And they're easier to photograph on a tree

From last night, on a small plant covering a half a square foot. This is how many there are every single night so far this week.

.


Oh, and they aren't singing around my neighborhood just yet. That will be a whole other experience altogether.

Send some my way, I've only got a couple in my back yard and want these shots!!!! What time have you been seeing them emerging from their shells?

colourbox

David_S85 wrote:

...at about 3am, the marching millions shed their old clothing and turn into adults.

Oh, so it's like their first high school party out there.

schmoo

A couple of years ago we had our invasion out here. It was loud for sure! I didn't mind the big bugs - I was raised with a significant amount of scientific respect for something so unique. I DID mind the idea of accidentally stepping on one and having it explode under my shoes. Yuck.

I love all of your shots of these buggers. I lived downtown in the city when they emerged for us and so I missed the albino look until a couple of weeks after they all shed their skins.

Thanks for sharing!

kygarden

Those nasty things hit me about 2 years ago. I still have some photos in my old pbase account: http://www.pbase.com/kygarden/cicada

I hate those things! In such numbers anyway.

Skippy

David_S85 wrote:

Skippy, don't you guys get billions of cane toads marching everywhere every year or two? (not that I want to trade species with Australia). But I know you like the bugs, so this probably kills you to see us have all this fun, eh? Note to self: I still need a macro solution to get a closeup of one of their glowing red eyeballs.

Cane Toads are found up in Gus's neck of the woods,
not down my way, or you'd have seen me post a shot by now

Hopefully I will get my chance to shoot a few different things in Canada and in USA later in the year, I'm really looking forward to the trip

Yeah I'm still jealous that you've got Cicada's to play with and I don't !
..... Skippy
.

David_S85

Some of our neighbors probably would prefer cane toads. This was what it looked like at the base of a tree four doors down on a walk this afternoon...

zini

Here is one I shot this morning
--

zini

A face only a mother could love
...

David_S85

That last one is a great shot, zini.