Summer of the Cicada
For 17 years they've been out of sight, out of mind. Now they will be in your face. Get set for Brood X
Every one else will just have to live with them for a few weeks. "They don't bite or sting. If they land on you, just flick them off," says Smithsonian Institution entomologist Gary Hevel. But brides planning outdoor weddings are worried; Kritsky has counseled over three dozen already. And throughout Brood X's domain, people will have to endure an ungodly racket, which thankfully stops at dusk. Cicadas have a drum-like organ they vibrate with their abdominal muscles, creating a sound that's amplified by their hollow bodies.
Sad songs. Not everyone hates the cacophony. "The cicada, to me, produces a very interesting sound," says acoustical engineer Tamara Smyth, who created a computer synthesizer that lets people "play" the insect's instrument. During the 1970 emergence, the singing cicadas inspired Bob Dylan's "Day of the Locusts" (locust is a common misnomer for cicada). This time around the bugs will get star treatment on a new CD, Seventeen Year Itch. Featuring cicada-themed songs and cicada sounds, it was commissioned by a Cincinnati civic group to highlight the return of the city's 5 billion insect denizens. Most of the songs focus on the pathos of the cicada's love life. "They've only got a month to, you know, do their business, and then they die," observes guitarist Jacob Heintz of the rock group Buckra.
The imminent insect love frenzy has created more anticipatory panic than usual this year, says Kritsky, who thinks the explanation may lie in terrorism and other current menaces. With all the world's unknowns, he notes, it's weirdly comforting to know there's a coming plague that's totally predictable and not even dangerous. "Here's something that we can talk about with certainty," Kritsky says. And here's one more thing that's certain: In 17 years, we'll be talking about it all over again.
The 17-Year Itch
In late spring, Brood X cicadas will emerge after 17 lonely years underground. They have just weeks to mate and lay eggs.
Cicada serenade
Males have a white, drumlike plate called a tymbal on either side of their abdomen, which they vibrate rapidly to make a variety of calls. Choruses can reach 100 decibels, as loud as a lawnmower at full bore. Females snap their wings in reply.
1 Immature cicadas live a foot or two underground, sucking sap from tree roots.
2 As their time to emerge nears, the nymphs use their legs to tunnel upward.
3 In April, the cicadas create openings at the bases of trees. Some feature little turrets of soil.
4 The cicadas emerge when the soil warms to 64 degrees, then cling to a tree to mature into winged adults.
5 After a mating frenzy, the female makes slits in a twig and lays eggs--a total of 400 to 600.
6 After a month, the eggs hatch. The young fall to the ground and dig in for a long wait.
[drawing labels]
Adult cicada
Tymbal
Eggs
Nymph
Brood X territory: Map of Eastern United States
Source: Ohio State University
Rod Little--USN&WR
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