Swarming my yard

[Kevin37]

Not a tractor, but if you're not on the East Coast I thought you might be interested in the Cicadas we have here.

Step one: Crawl out of the hole in the ground where they've been for 17 years.

 

[Kevin37]

Step two: Emerge from it's former self leaving the shell on a tree, wall, bush, or whatever it is sitting on.

 

[Kevin37]

Step three: Hang out on the shell or beside it and dry out and unfold wings

 

[Kevin37]

Another shot of "Hangin out"

 

[Gatorboy]

Grab them when they are coming out of their shell -- that's the state they need to be in when you make all those fine recipes that call for cicadas.

My son is trying to get enough to make cicada cookies -- he will get extra credit in Science for making a batch.

 

[Kevin37]

Ready to fly away. Eventually they turn black, resembling a LARGE housefly with red eyes. The size of these things is about the same as a womans thumb. Pretty big. I think at this point, they lay eggs in the ground, which stay there for 17 years, and the flying thing here dies! Short life!

Kevin

 

[Kevin37]

Gatorboy

I keep hearing on the radio shows of Cicada cook-offs and recipe contests. I thought at first they were a joke but apparantly NOT. Aftering watching my dog eat as many as she can catch, I don't think I would have an appetite for them. By the way, I read that dogs LOVE Cicadas but they cause doggie constipation /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif Kevin

 

[Gatorboy]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I think at this point, they lay eggs in the ground, which stay there for 17 years )</font>

They will lay eggs after mating and then after the eggs hatch, the nymphs will crawl down the tree and burrow in the ground. They will "live" underground living off the roots of the trees. In 17 years, they will come back up and do their last deeds before death. Not that short of a life -- slightly longer than the average dog's life.

 

[Kevin37]

Gatorboy
Thanks for clarifying. I guess out of site, out of mind. I never figured they were living a life beneath the trees, but I guess they're like any other sub-earth dweller. I told my Son he would be twenty years old the next time he sees them...I don't think he cared /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Kevin

 

[Gatorboy]

Here are some Cicada websites:

Cicada Watch 2004
Univ of Mich Cicada Page (this one has a place to listen to what they sound like)
Cicada Mania
Univ of MD Cicada Cookbook