Posted by Wayne G. Barber
The Cicadas Cometh
A dozen states across the US are preparing for a natural (and noisy) spectacle over the coming weeks as the Great Eastern Brood of cicadas emerges from a 17-year-stint underground to eat, mate, and enjoy the final month of their life. Also known as Brood X, the phenomenon is one of 15 separate broods, each distributed geographically with its own 17- or 13-year cycles. Billions of the bugs are expected to emerge through the spring.
Though synchronized, the brood won't appear at once—at any location, their emergence is triggered when soil temperatures reach 64 degrees. After molting males spend the next few weeks emitting a high-pitch song in unison to attract females. Eggs are laid on branches and twigs, with the larvae immediately burrowing into the ground upon hatching.
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