In the eastern half of North America, Periodical Cicadas from Brood X
invade the countryside every 13 and 17 years. Crawling up from the
ground,
They emerge at once, in May and June, leaving behind their exoskeletons.
For a brief month, Male Periodical Cicadas fill the air with a
deafening sound, advertising for a mate. These large Insects spend their
brief adult lives with only one thing on their minds – mating. When a
Female Periodical Cicada is ready, She will “click” to the Males, “Here I
Am!” After mating, She lays her eggs in trees. When They hatch, the
Offspring will move underground for another 13 to 17 years.
Living longer than any other Insects, Periodical Cicadas emerge as a
single Brood. Each Brood is spaced 13 or 17 years between emergences.
This long period prevents Predators from timing their activities to eat
the Cicadas. The prime numbers of 13 and 17 insure that nothing can
adapt to the Brood Cycle.
Called Periodical Cicadas (Magicicada)), these Insects differ
from their cousins Locusts. Unlike Locusts, Periodical Cicadas do not
jump. They seem like Locusts because of their larger broods that
overwhelm predators by their sheer numbers. After spending many years
developing underground, They come up for only two months. Then, the
Adults mate and die. Then years go by before another mass emergence.
Besides Periodical Cicadas’ size and numbers, what also makes Them
outstanding is their song. Male Periodical Cicadas makes the loudest
sound in the Insect World. By vibrating the ribbed plate in a pair of
amplifying cavities at the base of his abdomen, Male Periodical Cicada
can make his sound heard for long distances. A whole chorus of these
whirring sounds resembles a deafening roar of hundreds of kazoos played
at once.
Many people have heard Periodical Cicadas, and have not realized it.
The sound tracks of many science fiction movies that feature UFOs use
the Cicadas’ droning to signal the sound of the alien space ships. Think
space aliens, and
you associate Periodical Cicadas with them.
The lesson of Periodical Cicadas is living at the nexus of time. For
Periodical Cicadas, time merges into one Brood. When They emerge in the
present, Periodical Cicadas encourage people to remember the past.
Also, They prompt people to think about what the future will bring. In
the present, their numbers simply overwhelm people. Periodical Cicadas
bend time into a prism of past, present, and future in one moment.
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