For the past few weeks, each time I venture outside, I hear the constant, incessant, never-ending cicada choir. Their song is deafening at times. At all other times it’s just plain annoying.
Yes, please welcome Brood X. There are a lot of good resources out there, so I won’t regurgitate info that you can find yourself. In summary, though, "Brood X" refers to a specific generation of cicada belonging to the the genus Magicicada. These guys have a 17-year life-span and mating cycle. Basically, 17 years ago, the mommies laid eggs in the trees. Shortly thereafter, the eggs hatched and the little guys fell to the ground and dug themselves deep. There they stayed… until this year! They all, then, climbed out of the ground, climbed up a tree, shed their outer layer of skin and emerged as the winged adults that annoys us today.
Over the course of the next month or so, all the cicada will mate, the females will lay eggs, and all the adults will die. The eggs will hatch and the grubs will fall to the earth, dig themselves in and not emerge again until 2021!!
Of course we see/hear cicada nearly every year. That’s because different generations and genus of cicada hatch at different intervals. Brood X is interesting because they are one of the largest broods.
So, I went outside this morning and managed to capture a few images. They’re posted in the Brood X Photo Gallery.
And for a good laugh, check out Cicadaville and read about these deadly little pests!
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