Cicada Season Is Here As Billions Of Screaming Insects Emerge
HuffPost
The latest swarm is largest in Georgia, southern Ohio, Kentucky, Cape Cod in Massachusetts, and Long Island, New York.
CINCINNATI (AP) — Another cicada invasion is here. The large Brood XIV, which emerges every 17 years, is making for a spectacular natural event as billions of periodical cicadas emerge across parts of the Eastern U.S., including in Georgia, southern Ohio, Kentucky, Cape Cod in Massachusetts, and Long Island, New York.
When spring warms the soil to 64 degrees Fahrenheit (about 18 degrees Celsius), these cicada nymphs dig their way up to the surface after their long development period.
On the right night, usually after a warm spring rain, near trees showing cicada pilot holes and chimneys, they will emerge — so many that they can be heard crunching through the grass to climb up trees, plants, people or any vertical surface. There is a forceful quality about it.
Once they find footing, they begin the molting process. They shed their nymphal skin, emerging soft, vulnerable and pale yellow. They have two large red eyes on the sides of the head, three small, jewellike eyes called ocelli in the center, and gossamer wings. In a few hours, their bodies harden and darken, and they fly up to the treetops.
Then the screaming begins — the loud buzzing, screaming sound males make when they are looking for a mate. It leaves ears ringing.
