. . . is drawing to a close.
Quite a few carcasses litter the ground. The volume of the raucous love-call made by the males is diminishing just a bit. The ones that are still flying around seem to be slowing down. They are not particularly skillful navigators, frequently bumping into windows and siding with a soft "plunk".
Today's Washington Post says that it's the female cicada who's in charge. She decides whom to accept. "Within an hour (of mating), she will slice open a small tree branch and lay her eggs securely in the opening. Soon, she will also die."
Ah, poor thing. Six weeks after Mom passes on, the eggs hatch. The nymphs drop from the tree and burrow into the ground to stay for the next seventeen years.
Know this, Ladies: the pickings are getting slimmer by the day.
So interesting..... we had none! I was looking foreword to seeing them. Not sure why we apparently do not have them.
ReplyDeletePipeTobacco
i am glad they are out there and not here. that said this is really interesting info, i knew none of this.
ReplyDeleteI bet everyone will be glad to see them all gone.
ReplyDeleteMust be interesting to watch. I've been hearing stories about eating them (but not if you're allergic to shellfish), and some guy feeding them to a bird (cutting them up so the bird could).
ReplyDeleteGood to know we can still chuckle about the little bastids.
ReplyDeleteThat's some life cycle.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting but I still wonder why the majority do it in sync every 17 years. Safety in numbers I suppose.
ReplyDeleteA rather fascinating life cycle.
ReplyDeleteWe here in Idaho won't see them.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is on and stay safe
Beautiful blog
ReplyDeletePlease read my post
ReplyDeleteHappy we don't have them. But it's interesting, reading about them from afar. (OK, not so afar.)
ReplyDeleteYour blog is amazing ��
ReplyDelete