Countless cicadas set to emerge from ground as part of 17-year life cycle

According to a 1962 study, based on an estimated count from two orchards in Hancock, Maryland, as many as 1.5 million cicadas can appear and cover "around one acre of ground" during their emergence.

By ZACHARY KEYSER
A 17-year preiodical cicada (photo credit: WIKIPEDIA)
A 17-year preiodical cicada
(photo credit: WIKIPEDIA)
As a part of their 17-year life cycle, millions of periodical cicadas are preparing to emerge from the ground to wreak havoc on the eastern United States.
The last time the periodicals cicadas emerged in the United States was just before the summer of 2003.
Periodical cicadas live underground as "nymphs" for exceedingly long periods of time – for this genus, 17 years. They are often mistaken for locusts, since they are "true bugs," not grasshoppers.
In 1898, entomologist C.L. Marlatt assigned each "brood" of periodical cicadas a Roman numeral - 15 in total. This one is designated as part of "Brood IX," which tends to plague southwest Virginia, West Virginia and parts of North Carolina each time it emerges.
These winged creatures emerge from the ground once in their lifetime to mate, for a period of several weeks to a little over a month, as a part of their species' "sepdecennial" ritual.
According to a 1962 study, based on an estimated count from two orchards in Hancock, Maryland, as many as 1.5 million cicadas can appear and cover "around one acre of ground" during their period of emergence.
The profusion of their numbers is not only visible, but also deafening. Male cicadas vibrate membranes in their abdomen to attract females, and with millions of them flying around, it sounds like you are surrounded by countless advancing rattlesnakes. Virginia Tech describes the sound as a "field of out-of-tune car radios."
In the first few days of their emergence, the cicadas are highly susceptible to being targeted by predators such as reptiles, birds, squirrels, cats, etc. The reason they all surface at once is purported to be linked to a species survival mechanism – overwhelming predators with sheer numbers – to ensure the survival of the species into the next life cycle.
Once cicadas mate, the female cuts little slits into twigs and tree branches and lays her eggs within the wood, about 20 eggs for each slit. Each female is purported to lay around 600 or more eggs during this time.
Six to ten weeks later, after the eggs hatch, the juvenile cicadas burrow into the ground to feed on roots and live out the next 17 years until it's their time to emerge.
Anyone who has ever lived through this period can tell you that following the mating season, you can find the carcasses of the proud parents lining the ground in astonishing fashion.
Their effect on the environment, however, is up for debate. Many species flourish during their emergence period, while others suffer.
Young trees can be significantly damaged by the oviparous period of the cicadas' life cycle, and also during the year leading up to the emergence when burrowed cicadas begin to feed heavily on tree roots.
Moles tend to do well during the year before, where afterwards their population declines due to the lack of food source.
Additionally, following the mating season, the carcasses littered across the ground become good food sources for the local fauna - and the uneaten carcasses become nutrients for the flora.
Look out Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina – they're coming back!


Related Tags
locust