Coming Soon- The Summer of the Cicada
The cicada is more than just a very loud bug.
This summer, a combined phenomenon will hit the U.S. Midwest. The 13-year and the 17-year Magicicada broods will be burrowing out from underground simultaneously.
It’s also the 10th anniversary of my grandmother’s passing.
How do those two things go together? I’m delighted that you would ask.
The Cicada
A lot of people have never even heard the word cicada (Si-Kay-Dah). Heck, most of my friends don’t know what they are either. So here’s a little description to bring you up to speed.
A cicada is a very large insect that lives underground for the majority of its life. Depending on the species, they come out every 13 or 17 years, molt, mate, and die. Their offspring then burrow underground to repeat the process over and over and over again.
For only living above ground for a few weeks, they create quite a racket. The males attract their mates by rapidly vibrating their abdominal membranes (gross, I know). This “song” is…very loud.
Then they mate, and then they die.
This year, we’ll be seeing, or rather hearing, a double dose of these two different broods. They’ll be making their desperate mating…
