THEY'RE BACK...or will soon

Think back to 2002 when the Euro was officially introduced in the Eurozone countries and Salt Lake City hosted the Winter Olympics.  You say, that was a long time ago.  Maybe you weren't yet born.

In 2002 the 17-year cicada began its life.  Those that were born and survived found their way into the soil to a depth of around 2 feet and lived 17 years sucking juices from roots to survive. And you complain about your life.

Typically around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and other states shown to the left, when the ground temperature at 8-inch depth raises above 64 F, usually in later May, they emerge, around 1.5 million of them/acre, and spend six days in trees for their exoskeletons to harden.  They turn from white to dark in one hour.  The males sing, and this can be deafening, reaching 100 dB, females come, they mate, and they both die off by July.  Before passing away, the female lays 20 eggs in the bark of a twig, more than 600 in all.  The eggs hatch in 6-10 weeks, where the newborn nymphs drop to the ground and burrow for 17 years.

Scientists have observed ecological effects, for trees don't do well the year they emerge, moles get fat from eating the soon to emerge cicada, squirrels do poorly that fall because there won't be as much food because those being used for eggs generally don't reach maturity, and wild turkey populations increase for the abundance of this food supply.  Touchingly, cats and dogs bring some home as gifts for you.

The same cycle is followed by the 13-year cicada, which is found mostly in the southern states.  This  emergence will happen every year, except for 2023 and 2026, for their brood years went extinct, the 17-year variety after 1954 and the 13-year specie after 1870.  I wasn't able to find out why.  Must have been the weather, or a disease.

From most reports, cicadas are harmless.  They don't bite or sting.  They don't eat fruit or vegetables.  They do negatively affect small trees, and a 1.5 inch dark insect with red eyes flying into you can be startling.  Flying cockroaches in Hawaii have caused heart attacks.  Native Americans ate them, roasted.   People have protested Home Depot advertising Ortho products to kill them.

Most 17-year cicadas, Magicicadas, are red-eyed, although white and blue eyes also can be found.

This one looks red and white:

To summarize, then, these cyclical cicadas don't just all show up every 13 or 17 years.  They arrive within their brood crop every year.  However, I'l be curious if none shows up in 2023 and 2026.

-