They’re loud, they’re proud, and they’re seventeen years in the making.
No, I’m not talking about the WWE Attitude Era group. I’m talking about Brood II cicadas.
According to CNN:
The life cycle of the periodical cicada is the stuff of horror movies: millions of large flying insects that crawl out of the ground after 17 years to mate loudly, lay eggs and die.
If you’re into bugs or science-y things, there’s a way that you can help scientists. According to Radiolab:
Patches of the East Coast are turning squishy and crunchy with the return of the 17-year cicadas. Spots from GA to CT will soon be carpeted in bugs, and the air will hum with a 7 kHz mating buzz. Help predict their return with a home-built sensor — and then alert scientists when you see them emerge!
Not to worry: if you haven’t encountered these buzzy insects before, they aren’t harmful to humans and they don’t bite. They just … make a lot of noise and show up in swarms. They come in a flurry and mate in a hurry! (Okay, enough with the bad catch phrases.)
Watch the video above to make a ground thermometer of your own, see where there have been cicada sightings, check out CNN’s excellent article about Brood II, or read #swarmageddon tweets:
[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/Brood_II/status/331396363197755393″]
[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/Rueby/status/331502255540940800″]
[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/suzannTee/status/319204225429143553″]
Also, Cicada Chips!?
[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/Radiolab/status/318817678427037697″]
[Via: The Cicadas Are Coming! from Radiolab on Vimeo]
Lead photo credit: Flickr / normanxang