Invaded by Cicadas
It’s like watching a birth. Cicada nymphs crawled out of the ground this week after 17 years. There were so many of them that they looked like a clone army climbing up trees.
Once settled, their backs split open and they slipped out of their old bodies, reminding me of the old movie, The Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
First, they’re white and soft with undeveloped wings.
We watched one emerge, and, within half-an-hour, it turned dark and hard with fully developed intricate transparent wings. The adults are slow moving and clumsy.
They mate and live only a few weeks. The females deposit eggs on branches that fall, hatch and go back underground, and the 17-year cycle begins again.
This is my third cycle of the invasion of the cicadas, but I only remember the 1987 one when my son Josh was a young boy and set up battle scenarios using the exoskeleton bodies of the nymphs. We lived in the woods then and their locust drone was deafening, like a war cry of a continuous oncoming attack.
But now their drone sounds a collective protest, a metaphor for these times. ___________Our World Tuesday
June 1st, 2020 10:17 am
Wow … seventeen years seems like seven hundred in human terms! This is definitely a year for spreading all sorts of things.
June 1st, 2020 11:45 am
I want you to tell me what are their purpose here on earth? Do they kill other bugs, like beetles that can destroy your garden? Or are they just here for the sake of it.
I actually like the sound they make. It reminds me of summer in Hull. Or similar to a cricket. Thanks so much for putting this up. I love nature and as I grow older it seems even more fascinating.
June 1st, 2020 12:09 pm
From what I can gather, they are a super food source for birds and animals.
June 1st, 2020 4:52 pm
I remember a cacada invasion during my childhood – they were everywhere!
June 1st, 2020 6:31 pm
I really dislike these things! They will be out here soon.
June 5th, 2020 1:49 pm
A great photo series… we didn’t really know what they looked like (I passed the IPAd across the room to Bill and had to fight to get it back )). Fascinating. We *heard* them once in (I guess some multiple of 17 years ago) when we were in Dallas for a convention … everybody was talking about the buzz/hum when we walked in a park near the c center … we heard it was an invasion of cicadas. But it wasn’t a time for exploring nature, and we’ve always wondered what it would be like to see them. (Have never heard of them being here in Oregon.)