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Cicadas are currently everywhere right now,but Ive noticed a few things about them and wondering if anyone can answer or comment...
Ive heard they come out just to mate and then die off again, but I dont think Ive seen any of them actually 'mating', if you look at them in the trees and bushes,they are all just lined up on the branches, just sitting there, or they just fly around, roll around on the ground, some just sit in one spot for hours on end, not even moving!
Ive also watched numerous ones on my back deck and noticed they are very poorly designed bugs, they cannot grasp anything slippery, and they topple over on their backs/sides ridiculously easy, many cannot right themselves and just die on their backs...looking at them, they appear to be top heavy, strange they are created this way imo.
I also noticed they are all over the expressways, cars whizzing by and 100s of 1000s of cicadas being tossed around, ran over on the roads!
All I know is that I'm glad we got a break from them yesterday out this way due to the rain. I generally do not like the rain, but welcomed it yesterday as the cicadas have been destroying my windshield.
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Originally Posted by rstevens62
Cicadas are currently everywhere right now,but Ive noticed a few things about them and wondering if anyone can answer or comment...
Ive heard they come out just to mate and then die off again, but I dont think Ive seen any of them actually 'mating', if you look at them in the trees and bushes,they are all just lined up on the branches, just sitting there, or they just fly around, roll around on the ground, some just sit in one spot for hours on end, not even moving!
Ive also watched numerous ones on my back deck and noticed they are very poorly designed bugs, they cannot grasp anything slippery, and they topple over on their backs/sides ridiculously easy, many cannot right themselves and just die on their backs...looking at them, they appear to be top heavy, strange they are created this way imo.
I also noticed they are all over the expressways, cars whizzing by and 100s of 1000s of cicadas being tossed around, ran over on the roads!
Yuk - I have had to shield my beer from them before, in parts of the Mediterranean and Algarve.
Thankfully we don't get many big insects in the UK.
Yuk - I have had to shield my beer from them before, in parts of the Mediterranean and Algarve.
Thankfully we don't get many big insects in the UK.
That reminds me of when I was a teenager. One night my brother and I went to check out a car our friend had just bought. He had it parked on the street under a street light in front of his house. He gave us each a bottle of beer as we stood around talking about his car and he asked us why we both held our beers with our thumbs over the top of the bottle. Before we could answer, he started choking on a june bug, they were swarming all around the street light. My brother looked at me and said, " Rookie."
Thankfully they only come out in these numbers every 17 yrs!
I was a friends house yesterday, they have many large mature trees, the sound from the cicadas is literally louder than a jet plane flying over, I couldnt believe how loud they were!
They will be gone within a couple weeks though, they basically come out, mate, then die... their offspring burrow into the ground, and come out 17yrs later to repeat the whole process over again, they feed on roots during this time underground.
Cicadas are currently everywhere right now,but Ive noticed a few things about them and wondering if anyone can answer or comment...
Ive heard they come out just to mate and then die off again, but I dont think Ive seen any of them actually 'mating', if you look at them in the trees and bushes,they are all just lined up on the branches, just sitting there, or they just fly around, roll around on the ground, some just sit in one spot for hours on end, not even moving!
Ive also watched numerous ones on my back deck and noticed they are very poorly designed bugs, they cannot grasp anything slippery, and they topple over on their backs/sides ridiculously easy, many cannot right themselves and just die on their backs...looking at them, they appear to be top heavy, strange they are created this way imo.
I also noticed they are all over the expressways, cars whizzing by and 100s of 1000s of cicadas being tossed around, ran over on the roads!
From what I have read their actual mating is done in the treetops, probably too high up for you to be able to witness.
Also it takes several days for their exoskeletons to harden and to get their wings to fly, so I would hazard a guess that's the reason you see them sitting in one spot for hours.
BTW they are supposed to be nutritious, you can use them in lots of ways, everything from main dishes to deserts. If you are being inundated, get even by eating the little buggers! https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/l...trees/2685168/
I live in an area that is supposed to see a lot of these this year and I have co-workers from surrounding areas reporting sightings, but I have yet to see or hear them in my neighborhood, knock on wood.
From what I have read their actual mating is done in the treetops, probably too high up for you to be able to witness.
Also it takes several days for their exoskeletons to harden and to get their wings to fly, so I would hazard a guess that's the reason you see them sitting in one spot for hours.
BTW they are supposed to be nutritious, you can use them in lots of ways, everything from main dishes to deserts. If you are being inundated, get even by eating the little buggers! https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/l...trees/2685168/
I live in an area that is supposed to see a lot of these this year and I have co-workers from surrounding areas reporting sightings, but I have yet to see or hear them in my neighborhood, knock on wood.
Seeing that you live in TN, that is so weird you arent seeing many!! Take the short drive up to Erlanger, KY and you will see BILLIONS.
Btw, the ones I see just sitting in one spot already have their wings.
Thankfully they only come out in these numbers every 17 yrs!
I was a friends house yesterday, they have many large mature trees, the sound from the cicadas is literally louder than a jet plane flying over, I couldnt believe how loud they were!
They will be gone within a couple weeks though, they basically come out, mate, then die... their offspring burrow into the ground, and come out 17yrs later to repeat the whole process over again, they feed on roots during this time underground.
Only males make the noise to attract the females. I'm am rooting for the zombie fungus to get them.
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