June 7, 2016
As we alighted from the truck upon arrival at the farm this past
week, Charming and I noticed the familiar high-pitched song of the cicada. It was extremely loud and it was
everywhere. Poor little Jax spent most
of his visit just sitting around, looking up into the trees and the surrounding
woods with a confused look on his face. He’s
young, so he doesn’t understand that locusts emerge from the earth on a regular
schedule. This is the first (and most likely the only) time he will hear the
cicadas.
What Charming and I didn’t understand was why we had cicadas at
the farm and not at our current house when there is only about ninety miles
between the two locations. Hmmmmm…so as
soon as we returned home from the farm I did some research to see what I could
learn about them.
I found out that cicadas live all over the world in any place that
has a relatively warm climate. So we in America have them almost everywhere. As I understand it, there are currently
fifteen “broods” (or groups) distributed throughout America. Each
brood emerges from the ground at different times, every thirteen or seventeen
years, depending on which brood they belong to. (For instance, Brood V in West Virginia emerged in 2016, while Brood II in Virginia last emerged in 2013.)
When the cicadas are above-ground, they lay eggs in the crevices between
the bark on trees. The eggs hatch and
the nymphs fall to the ground and burrow to a depth of up to eight feet. They live underground, creating chambers
close to the roots of trees, where they feed on the tree’s sap until it is time
for them to dig exit tunnels to the top of the ground. After they surface, they attach themselves to
tree trunks where they shed their papery brown shells and emerge as fully grown
cicadas. The males sing their song to
attract females for the mating ritual.
Then the female lays her eggs and the cycle continues to repeat itself.
While Charming and I were working on the shed, I lost count of the
number of those empty brown cicada shells I knocked off of the structure. (I know that it’s fine to leave them where
they are, but I find them…well….icky…and would like to get rid of them as soon
as possible.) Since Charming, Jax, and I
spend most of our time outside when we’re at the farm, I’m hoping that the
event will be over and done with by the next time we go back. I love nature as much as the next tree
hugger, but a little of the cicada song goes a long, long way.
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| This husk clings to a 2"x6" after the cicada has emerged. |
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| Empty husks fell from trees into the holes that were dug for shed piers. |
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| Close-up photo of Charming letting the cicada crawl on his wrist...ick! |
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| The cicada emerges! |
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| Jax in a flat-out run...he comes running whenever we start the truck or tractor. |
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