East about to be overrun by billions of cicadas

[Faygo Kid]

Source: Associated Press

Washington — Any day now, billions of cicadas with bulging red eyes will crawl out of the earth after 17 years underground and overrun the East Coast. They will arrive in such numbers that people from North Carolina to Connecticut will be outnumbered roughly 600-to-1. Maybe more.

But ominous as that sounds — along with scientists' horror-movie name for the infestation, Brood II — they're harmless. These insects won't hurt you or other animals. At worst, they might damage a few saplings or young shrubs. Mostly they will blanket certain pockets of the region, though lots of people won't ever see them.

"It's not like these hordes of cicadas suck blood or zombify people," says May Berenbaum, a University of Illinois entomologist.

They're looking for just one thing: sex. And they've been waiting quite a long time. . .

Read more: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130506/NATION/305060405/1361/East-about-to-be-overrun-by-billions-of-cicadas

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This Marylander knows that this will NOT be pleasant. Yuck.

[elleng]

1. Yup; waiting.

Would travel west if I could, when they arrive.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

2. SHIT!! I live in Maryland, too, and I like to bike, walk and run in the city. This is not good!!!

[Iliyah]

3. What did the East Coast

do 17 years ago?

[Spitfire of ATJ]

11. They got buzzed.

[Sunlei]

4. Zingersss!!

[Common Sense Party]

5. Just wait until you run face-first into one while you're on a motorcycle.

[BumRushDaShow]

7. Or sliding down a sliding board as a kid and

*SMACK* right upside the head.

[BumRushDaShow]

8. I heard dogs love 'em

at least that was all the talk during Brood X in 2004 -- crunchy protein-filled dog snacks called cicadas.

[LiberalEsto]

22. My dogs love those stink bug critters.

I have no doubt they're going to be devouring cicadas like mad.

[sofa king]

33. It seems like everything eats 'em.

I've seen squirrels munching them, too, which I did not expect to see. Spawning fish in the rivers and lakes get a huge leg up in the years that the cicadas show up. I would imagine that hungry black bears, impatient for spring food to make itself available, must eat them by the hundreds per day.

Cicadas are pretty cool critters. If you ever wanted to make friends with bugs, rather than be revolted by them, these are the ones to do it with. If they're out, you can't help but find them, and they're big, gentle, easy to see, difficult to upset, and harmless, with no stinger or biting jaws. I wore one to work one day (he volunteered) and it never ventured from the shoulder of my suit jacket until I took it back out at lunch.

They also hit pretty much all the buttons that people who hate bugs tend to have: they are large, flying, noisy, and with demon-like eyes that can see through your soul. So if you can let one of those critters walk around on your hand, you'll probably have fewer problems with the others.

They still present a hazard on the road. I know of one beautiful GTO that met its end when a cicada suicided into the sideview mirror and disintegrated into the face of the driver.

It saddens me that I live in a county that successfully ran a cicada eradication program--it used to be widely believed that they damaged trees (though "too scary-looking to live" was probably the real motivation). The damage they cause is now known to be minimal, especially when one remembers the absurd amounts of food and fertilizer they provide. They can't stay away forever--perhaps I'll see more this time.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/zoology/insects-arachnids/cicada1.htm

[Locut0s]

9. Anyone got some good cicada recipes??

Insects are full of protein and are almost 0 fat. They are eaten all the time in some parts of the world.

But yeah... I think I might have trouble with that too...

In small numbers I love the sound of cicadas actually. But billions of them, umm that's going to be deafening!

[ChairmanAgnostic]

10. It's a SIGN, a SIGN, I tell ya! a SIGN from doG!

Repent before it is too late!

[Kingofalldems]

12. My dog ate hundreds of them before I caught him.

He loved those things.

[Warpy]

16. They're supposed to be pretty good roasted or fried

Just pull the legs and wings off before you eat them. The females are supposed to be meatier. Cultures all over the planet eat them, probably because when they go through, that's all there is to eat until they die off and farmers can replant.

I've eaten fried grasshopper but not cicada. It was pretty good.

[Posteritatis]

23. That and their entire evolutionary strategy is "bet you can't eat us all!" (nt)

[Blandocyte]

13. Loud, fun, then annoying

I enjoyed them at first when my state was overrun with them. Then it got to the point where they were on everything and often riding you like a metro bus. The buzz was near deafening up close to the trees they'd mass on. The sound of cicadas popping underfoot and under tires started to be sickening. Extra car washes were needed.

But they're really cool in that they look like they should be space aliens.

[LanternWaste]

14. Nature's tinnitus.

They're part of the soundtrack to a north Texas summer evening. Soothing the first night or two... and then something clicks in your head and they become sound of Satan incarnate. And for some reason, no matter how well the sound insulation is in your place, you can always hear them. Always.

I sometimes think they were the inspiration for Conrad's Hart of Darkness, and Dante's Inferno, and Wagner's Twilight of the Gods. What I'm saying is they're bad, mmmkay?

Nature's tinnitus.

[undergroundpanther]

37. I already have

Tinnitus,so it makes no difference.Even when I didn't have it Their unearthly song added a welcome eeriness to the evenings.

[Warpy]

15. I remember one of those when I was a kid

It was a pain in the ass because they were everywhere. Going outside to play was a failure because they'd be jumping all over us and screened enclosures would have to wait for the relative wealth to come to be built. Forget gardens that year, they went through like lawn mowers. Wealthier gardeners used tobacco netting, that was minimally successful.

Plus, those things are LOUD. Even after they screwed, laid their eggs and died, we'd keep on hearing them for months.

[jakeXT]

17. BROOD II

[PotatoChip]

19. I wonder if climate change will eventually bring them farther north?

Probably not as far as Maine (in my lifetime), but you never know...

[jakeXT]

20. It's not much missing to get up there

http://magicicada.org/databases/magicicada/map.html

[Dash87]

18. There's going to be like 100 of their shells in my dog's stool.

Not looking forward to it.

[marions ghost]

21. I like em

the buzzy energy--maybe because I'm not a very hyper type and appreciate the higher frequency vibration. I get energized to do things.

It's intense tho. Wouldn't want it all the time that's for sure.

[customerserviceguy]

24. The regular ones are loud and unearthly enough

The only thing good about them is that in another seventeen years, I'm likely to be either dead or deaf.

[onlyadream]

25. For some reason Long Island doesn't get them

Thank god!!!

[Mr. X]

26. Ready the Flamethrowers!

[img][/img]

[Enrique]

27. fun for the kids

i have fond memories of my childhood cicada summer.

[mike_c]

28. brood two is the awesomest....

Sweet! I've been through brood two emergences twice-- hope I can get back east at least once in early summer!

[Tx4obama]

29. Kick n/t

[Paulie]

30. Enjoy them, they are periodic!

We had Brood XIII back in 2007 here in Chicagoland.

[Danmel]

31. The last time this happened

my cat (now gone to his eternal reward) had enormous fun torturing cicadas-he loved listening to the sound they made when he batted them. He was a funny cat- he stayed in a fenced yard and came in when we called him. Not looking forward to hordes of cicadas. They kind of freak me out.

[GreenStormCloud]

32. Cicada recipes.

http://cicadainvasion.blogspot.com/2011/04/if-you-cant-beat-em-eat-em-cicada.html

From the link:
"Cicada Tacos:
Ingredients: two tablespoons butter or peanut oil, one and a half pound of cicadas, one teaspoon of chili powder, one tomato, finely chopped, one onion, finely chopped, one and a half table spoon ground pepper, one and a half table spoon cumin, three table spoon taco seasoning mix, one handful cilantro, chopped, Taco shells, Sour cream, Shredded cheddar cheese, Shredded lettuce.

Cooking instructions:
1. Heat the butter or oil in a frying pan and fry the cicadas for 10 minutes, or until cooked through.
2. Remove from pan and roughly chop into 1/4-inch cubes/ Place back in pan.
3. Add the chopped onions, chilies and tomato, season with salt, and fry for another 5 minutes on medium-low heat.
4. Sprinkle with ground pepper, cumin and oregano to taste.
5. Serve in taco shells and garnish with cilantro, sour cream, lettuce and cheddar cheese."

Enjoy.

[agentS]

34. they're everywhere!!!!

They're inside the perimeter!

We're completely surrounded!


There's nowhere to run!!!

[undergroundpanther]

35. I like them

I remember sitting at a picnic table in Elliott city talking to my therapist,I had taken off my sandals my feet resting on the ground,then suddenly I felt the ground move,therapist asked me what was wrong as I lifted my feet and looked at the ground under the table saying hoooly shit! He looked under the table as what looked like something out of a horror movie.We both watched dumbfounded as thousands of cicadas erupted out of the ground all around.It was cool. The sound they make if you listen sounds like a UFO.And if you pick several different cicadas tickle them to make them chirp,each one has a unique voice.Their mating call when heard individually is nifty.My ex and I recorded the cicadas chirping individually,the chouses and the individual tikka tikka buzz..mating call 17 years ago and used them in music we made.The chorus made a very eerie pad sound.Pitch bend it or speed it up,slow it down and the sounds you can make with cicadas and a keyboard can get really weird and fun. Besides I think they're cool.

[truthisfreedom]

36. It's too bad we can't harness their sound energy to make electricity.

8^P

[bitchkitty]

38. My Repugnican sister lives on the East Coast. LOL

Laughing, but I do feel sorry for the rest of you Easterners.