here in the Louisville area. I've collected a few for my microscope hobby and pointed out the pencil-size holes in the lawn to my son from which they came. They always create quite an uproar along certain stretches of I-64 that are walled on both sides where the interstate was cut through some hills.
The live adult insects that are perched are actually quite fun to mess with, almost like they enjoy the attention!
From Wikipedia on periodical cicada:
The term periodical cicada is commonly used to refer to any of the seven species of the genus Magicicada of eastern North America, the 13- and 17-year cicadas. They are called periodical because nearly all individuals in a local population are developmentally synchronized and emerge in the same year.
Magicicada species spend around 99.5% of their long lives underground in an immature state called a nymph. While underground, the nymphs feed on xylem fluids from the roots of broadleaf forest trees in the eastern United States.[4] In the spring of their 13th or 17th year, mature cicada nymphs emerge between late April and early June (depending on latitude), synchronously and in tremendous numbers.[5][6] The adults are active for only about four to six weeks after the unusually prolonged developmental phase.[7]
The males aggregate in chorus centers and call there to attract mates. Mated females lay eggs in the stems of woody plants. Within two months of the original emergence, the life cycle is complete and the adult cicadas die. Later in that same summer, the eggs hatch and the new nymphs burrow underground to develop for the next 13 or 17 years.
Thanks for the post! It's quite a ritual event in our area.
KY
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