Ready for the oncoming swarm?

DalekBrittany
DalekBrittany Posts: 1,748 Member
in Chit-Chat
Yes, I said swarm. Is everyone in the east coast ready for the swarm of cicadas this spring? They are saying 1 billion cicadas per square mile.

Have you heard about this? Are you now freaking out if you haven't? Is there anything you are doing to prepare your lawn and trees? Discuss :)

Me, I'm used to cicadas (grew up in the south) as far as noise, but I don't know if there have ever been that many at once...
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Replies

  • Tlglose
    Tlglose Posts: 49 Member
    I'm not 100% positive but I believe these type of hatches are on a cycle.. But this sounds like it could be of biblical proportions....literally.. The plague of the locusts....
  • djc315
    djc315 Posts: 585 Member
    What part of the east coast?
  • raiderrodney
    raiderrodney Posts: 617 Member
    They were pretty bad last year here in NC, but I do love hearing them :)
  • smantha32
    smantha32 Posts: 6,990 Member
    I'm not 100% positive but I believe these type of hatches are on a cycle.. But this sounds like it could be of biblical proportions....literally.. The plague of the locusts....


    Yes, most species of cicadas hatch on a 17 year cycle. I don't see how they can predict how many are in the ground ready to hatch?
  • MaryJane_8810002
    MaryJane_8810002 Posts: 2,082 Member
    Last time I saw one was in Central Park. This will be interesting.
  • sullus
    sullus Posts: 2,839 Member
    Free Lean Protein!!
  • SamDanielleB
    SamDanielleB Posts: 71
    Oh good lord. I hope this is all just fear-mongering, and not real. Because if it's real, I might have to migrate west. Or north. Or anywhere that isn't SC.
  • Chainbreaker
    Chainbreaker Posts: 124 Member
    Flamethrower, baby!
  • Cr01502
    Cr01502 Posts: 3,614 Member
    Dafuq is a cicada?
  • Tlglose
    Tlglose Posts: 49 Member
    Free Lean Protein!!
    lol... "SURVIVOR - EAST COAST"
  • dirtnap63
    dirtnap63 Posts: 1,387 Member
    Dafuq is a cicada?

    grasshopper like bug, makes a loud noise. I'd post a gif but I'm too damn lazy
  • matt2442
    matt2442 Posts: 1,259 Member
    s6rXbvn.gif
  • Tlglose
    Tlglose Posts: 49 Member
    Dafuq is a cicada?
    It's a type of locust
  • SweetestLibby
    SweetestLibby Posts: 607 Member
    I'm not 100% positive but I believe these type of hatches are on a cycle.. But this sounds like it could be of biblical proportions....literally.. The plague of the locusts....


    Yes, most species of cicadas hatch on a 17 year cycle. I don't see how they can predict how many are in the ground ready to hatch?

    there is a secondary species that is on a 13 year cycle. that's one predicted to come this year...I guess based upon the size and length of the last swarm?

    I can't imagine the years where the 13 year and the 17 year cycle coincidence! I hate those little buggers.
  • BeachGingerOnTheRocks
    BeachGingerOnTheRocks Posts: 3,927 Member
    I was in Japan a few years ago with their major swarm. There were millions of dead bodies in the streets. It was ........ crunchy.
  • murphy612
    murphy612 Posts: 734 Member
    Ugggg those are annoying, they were so bad in 2011 I couldn't walk in my grass without crunching their little exoskelotons. And SOOO loud!! :grumble: I don't see SC listed for this Brood, so hopefully I won't get them as bad, but I'm right on the NC/SC border so who knows.
  • Tlglose
    Tlglose Posts: 49 Member
    s6rXbvn.gif
    love breaking bad :glasses:
  • DalekBrittany
    DalekBrittany Posts: 1,748 Member
    There are different types, there is a type on a 13-year cycle and some on an annual cycle. They can predict it because it happened here 17 years ago and they know the breeding patterns, I suppose. :)

    Unfortunately, it is real. If anyone was up here back in '96 they might remember it, these are from the same brood...will be interested in seeing those stories.

    A cicada is a very noisy flying bug, cousin to the cricket. The live underground near the root systems of trees.

    They can be a menace to fragile or young trees, so you may want to wrap them in foil...:)
  • fbmandy55
    fbmandy55 Posts: 5,263 Member
    I don't remember SEEING many last year but remember them being more loud than usual.

    Goodie. :noway:
  • lilRicki
    lilRicki Posts: 4,555 Member
    That's like the pine beetles that invaded souther alberta a few years ago. It was disgusting, there were so many beetle bodies in the gutters and sidewalks that it looked like tar.
  • DalekBrittany
    DalekBrittany Posts: 1,748 Member
    If I remember, it's NC, CT, NY, PA, NJ, MD, and VA. Central CT (where I live) is apparently gonna get hit hard. -.-
  • smantha32
    smantha32 Posts: 6,990 Member
    Here's a pic. The males buzz to attract the females. So a lot of them are hellishly noisy.
    This is the species we see most often in Dallas. We get some monster big black ones also, but not nearly so many as the green ones.


    cicada.jpg
  • bregalad5
    bregalad5 Posts: 3,965 Member
    Their noise makes me want to punch someone. Maybe I shouldn't try boxing... :huh: (for the record, I've never actually punched anyone)
  • djc315
    djc315 Posts: 585 Member
    If I remember, it's NC, CT, NY, PA, NJ, MD, and VA. Central CT (where I live) is apparently gonna get hit hard. -.-

    I just warned my family. I'm from Eastern CT, my family lives in Eastern/Central CT.
  • wheresheidi
    wheresheidi Posts: 213
    Here's a pic. The males buzz to attract the females. So a lot of them are hellishly noisy.
    This is the species we see most often in Dallas. We get some monster big black ones also, but not nearly so many as the green ones.


    cicada.jpg

    I love them! The sound, the way their wings look & the cool carcass left behind. I believe their is someplace that makes jewelry out of the wings.
  • smantha32
    smantha32 Posts: 6,990 Member

    I love them! The sound, the way their wings look & the cool carcass left behind. I believe their is someplace that makes jewelry out of the wings.


    I like them too. I think they're relaxing.
    I haven't seen jewelry made from the wings but I found a pin once made from copper plating one of their left over exoskeletons. I bought it for a friend who collects cicada stuff.
  • caseythirteen
    caseythirteen Posts: 956 Member
    So not looking forward to the mess! When we had the round back in 2004 I was sweeping the carcasses off my deck because there was just so freakin' many of them. Natural tree pruning though!
  • sullus
    sullus Posts: 2,839 Member

    I love them! The sound, the way their wings look & the cool carcass left behind. I believe their is someplace that makes jewelry out of the wings.


    I like them too. I think they're relaxing.
    I haven't seen jewelry made from the wings but I found a pin once made from copper plating one of their left over exoskeletons. I bought it for a friend who collects cicada stuff.

    I have a golf video game that my wife will not play (or be in the room while I'm playing) because a couple of the holes feature sounds of cicadas. She's *not* going to have a fun summer.
  • WarriorCupcakeBlydnsr
    WarriorCupcakeBlydnsr Posts: 2,150 Member
    You could be here in Florida, after our first big storm system this year, we will be getting mosquitos the size of quarters that bite harder than the average mosquito and will more likely to be carrying West Nile, Eastern Equine Encephalitis, and Dengue (I work in Public Health, in a lab that tests for these viruses, we've already been given notice about this)
  • kristina_m92
    kristina_m92 Posts: 155 Member
    Sometimes I'm glad to be up north.

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