Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Speaking Of Insects


Look at this little creature, or should I say rather large insect in the realm of insects. They emerged here in southern Wisconsin about three weeks ago after spending 17 years as a larvae underground eating roots. There's masses in the Chicago area and I don't have any here but just about 7 miles straight south in Lake Geneva there's tons. The 17 year cicada. Annoying but harmless and from what I understand rather tasty. Kind of almond like. Eeewwww! They make an erie sound and in unison too. They're cool looking in their own right with red beady eyes. I guess they're an Eastern thing. I find them fascinating. And when I say masses, I'm talking every square inch. They're about done now. They'll mate and lay their eggs and the larvae will stay underground for another 17 years. Why ? They must have been around for more than centuries. I wonder if there's any cicada fossils.

2 comments:

Rising Rainbow said...

Does that mean you only see them every 17 years or is there a new crop each year? Eeewwwwwwwwwwwww! Bugs make my skin crawl!

Callie said...

Yes only every 17 years.