Cicadas

[MoKelly]

TV said in central NC we will get our cicadas in 3 more years.

I can relate. Live in a hole in the ground for 17 years, come out, raise he//, mate and crawl back into your hole.

Sounds like me except the mating part!

Come on now. I was drinking coffee when I read your post!

Time for a new shirt!

MoKelly

 

[kenmbz]

They don't crawl back in their hole, mate, lay eggs, all done.

They keep saying we will have the massive 17 year cycle.
So far, we see Cicadas every year, always seems like the same amount/racket.

Slow news day for them ?

 

[Jstpssng]

Come on now. I was drinking coffee when I read your post!

Time for a new shirt!

MoKelly

Somebody needs to come up with a warning font. Every time I get my screen cleaned it ends up wearing another coat of coffee.

 

[Grumpycat]

I hit a swarm of something on motorcycle a few days ago. Pelted helmet, motorcycle, and jacket. Big enough to feel through a thick jacket. Strong enough none went "splat" to know what they were. They did ooze a bit and left marks.

 

[murphy1244]

I hit a swarm of something on motorcycle a few days ago. Pelted helmet, motorcycle, and jacket. Big enough to feel through a thick jacket. Strong enough none went "splat" to know what they were. They did ooze a bit and left marks.

A few years back (20?) I hit one on my bike going 90 mph. Right smack in the forehead, almost knocked my off. I pull in a rest area and I had Blood and guts like flame job across my head.

 

[kenmbz]

Try June bugs-they hurt.
Cicadas fly so poorly I have been hit by them many times, always a fun thump to scare the wits out of you while working on the car or landscape.

 

[MossRoad]

This is what they sound like. I probably won't be bothered by them as it sounds exactly like my tinnitus.

 

[MoKelly]

Are there a higher number of birds around to eat those bugs when they appear? Or do they just do their thing until they die?

MoKelly

 

[/pine]

speaking of bug guts...in some parts...cicadas are called "skillsaw bugs"...for some reason they are attracted to the harmonics or whatever of a circular saw and will often fly right into the spinning blade...!

 

[ponytug]

Are there a higher number of birds around to eat those bugs when they appear? Or do they just do their thing until they die?

MoKelly

The thought is that the 7/13/17 year cicada swarms evolved to overwhelm predators with a mass hatching, mating, and egg laying that allow large numbers of cicadas to successfully complete their lifecycle. Rather hard to definitively prove, but there are very few areas where all three types overlap.

While the mass hatch event is on, yes, the predators go wild. Given the high protein and fat content of cicadas (and most insects), it would be like a McDonalds with free food, figuratively speaking.

All the best,

Peter