Cicadas pee from trees. And they urinate a lot, new study finds

As if lying dormant in the dirt for 17 years isn't weird enough, cicadas possess another bizarre habit: they pee like crazy, up to 10 feet per second. The news comes as they're preparing to emerge in the Chicago area, one of the most populous zones on this year's cicada map.

A study credited to two Georgia Institute of Technology authors — titled "Unifying Fluidic Excretion Across Life From Cicadas to Elephants" — posits that cicadas weighing mere grams "possess the capability for jetting fluids through remarkably small orifices."

Scientists who study such things have found that cicadas urinate in a jet stream because they consume an incredible volume of fluid.