Cicada nightmares

[churipu 4]

Yep they come out once every 17 yrs...They were out in the DC area in 2004, the year I moved over here...lucky me! I hated them so bad...I don't do well with bugs, they freak me out so I basically almost never left the house for 6 weeks...YUCK!

Just so you know, they hide when it rains...the only times I would leave the apartment lol(not so often considering it was right around this time and blazing hot!). Hang in there eventually they are gone...for other 17 years!

P.S.

The other day I was in a store and I heard the girl working there telling the customer in front of me "OH I love your necklace!"...turns out it was a clear charm with a real cicada pressed inside of it!!! NASTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I heard there's people who actually eat them....there's recipes if you google them...

Edited June 17, 2007 by churipu

[derekkj 0]

Actually, they do exist in Canada. One of my cats used to love catching them then bringing them INSIDE to chase around the house! I would wake up to hear this angry chrr-chkkk as it tried to escape. We have them here in Georgia as well although I haven't seen/heard them yet. I know they are around when the cicada killers show up - these are humungous hornet like looking black and yellow flying wasps. They are up to 2 inches long and look like they would sting like crazy - except they don't! The males don't have stingers and the females have a stinger that they use to paralyze cicadas then then carry them back to their ground nest (one wasp per nest - not a social wasp) and lay their egg on the cicada. The cicada then 'feed's the larva until the full grown cicada killer erupts from the ground the following June. They do dive bomb you if you get too close to where they have their nests but they are actually beneficial insects so I look forward to seeing them each year. This is what they look like:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...ficial%26sa%3DG

Oooh, good to know Kathryn, thank you! I don't think Derek had ever seen them outside of Virginia before so I wasn't sure how far north the cicada ventured. When we lived in NY my cat used to love to eat them too. Used to completely gross me out hearing her crunch them up. DC's next big invasion is still years away so hopefully the new kitten won't get to experience them for awhile.

[Caladan 19]

I wonder if they're hitting my hometown yet. My sister used to collect the shells they shed and keep them in a cigar box.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

I ate them in Thailand. Dug the larvae (nymphs) myself.

[doodlebug 3]

eeeeeeeeeew...nasty!!!!

Never seen or heard of them till now. blech!!! I HATE BUGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[peejay 327]

Down South we get cicadas every summer. I heard they stay underground for 17 years before emerging to morph into their flying, tree dwelling stage. Apparently we have a rotating annual crop that emerges every year. They seem to be most numerous and their numbers peak in August around here. Some years are heavier than others. They are noisy little beggars and they make a big racket singing in the trees until well after dark.

I don't like it when they fly at my face when I pass a tree or otherwise surprise one of them, but they are harmless.

[Savanphil 3]

Haven't seen them here in Philly yet.

Ditto

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

nope, nothing in central jerz

Just comes to show how bad Jerz is: Not even those nasty cicadas wanna go there.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

nope, nothing in central jerz

Just comes to show how bad Jerz is: Not even those nasty cicadas wanna go there.

Yeah they live underground, don't they? Well unless they like thorium and uranium, underground in these parts is a bad idea.

[Reba 2]

In NC (I guess in the south in general?) we have both cicadas (they are out in the daytime) and katydids (they are out at nighttime). Both are really noisy and annoying Last night our patio door was being bombarded by katydids and the dogs were going insane. This morning I'm sitting here in my office and my window is being bombarded by cicadas

Back home in Ontario we had cicadas and we used to call them heat bugs, because they would sing louder on really hot days.

A few years ago James and I went backpacking overnight in the Linville Gorge, and the freakin katydids kept us awake all night long! They are LOUD! and numerous! I'm guessing they're not there this year, because the Gorge has been on fire for nearly 3 months now

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

nope, nothing in central jerz

Just comes to show how bad Jerz is: Not even those nasty cicadas wanna go there.

Yeah they live underground, don't they? Well unless they like thorium and uranium, underground in these parts is a bad idea.

Yikes. You folks better hope that there won't be some freaky mutants showing up at some point.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

haha. Just cancer clusters. No mutants.

[raphael7546 0]

We have something called Mormon Crickets here. They are eating alot of Farmers Crops and the state is going to start to spray for them.

My hubby has a lil joke about the Mormon Cricket....

Ya know how ya can tell a Morman Cricket from a regular one?

Cus he has his lil morman name badge on him that says Elder Jimminy Cricket!