Monday, June 02, 2008

Cincinnati Cicadas, Round 4 - Brood XIV

More pics and scientific information this time.

Cicada emerging, crawling
Got a picture of one of them emerging, before the molt.

Cicada hole Party!
The ground appears as swiss cheese, or at least like the brain of a mad cow.

Cicada Husks
...and the husks continue to pile...

And teh science on Cincinnati Cicadas (or at least the news)!
"Individual songs can be heard right now," Kritsky said. "They will start chorusing over the weekend and be at their peak by June 7. By July 4, they'll be gone."
...
"I once measured the sound of a cicada singing in a tree at 96 decibels," Kritsky said. "That's louder than the planes flying over my Delhi Township home."
...
For cicadas to emerge from their 17-year subterranean slumber, the soil needs to reach 65 degrees.
...
As with every cicada emergence, the fundamental things about these insects apply: They do not carry disease. They do not sting or bite humans. They do not taste good.

"I ate one from the last brood in 2004," Kritsky said.

He rated the cicada for mouth feel: "Like eating something squishy from a cold can of asparagus."

And taste: "The juice from that same can."


Mmmm...asparagus!

So it looks like 5 or so days to the peak. The noise is currently at an antagonistic annoyance level - cranking the Sirius much higher this past week. Hopefully I can figure out how to get you wonderful readers a sample of the noise. It's really quite lovely.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Please let these things go away! I know they don't hurt or sting, but they still freak me out! I have been trying to paint my garage, and they were dive-bombing me today. A bush that is 6 feet tall and at least 4 feet wide has a cicada every quarter inch. Madisonville has a ton of them.

Ricky Shambles said...

They're dive-bombing everyone now in our area. They'll be gone around July 4th, per the science folks. Hang in there. And don't paint until they're gone! You'll have leg marks forever.