The great invasion has just started. Faced with the arrival of these cicadas, which only emerge from the earth every 17 years, Americans exchange anecdotes and advice on how to best experience this exceptional natural phenomenon. Before invading streets and gardens, the “cicadas” have already conquered media, social networks and conversations, especially in the eastern United States.
It is there, in a region covering about fifteen states, that “Brood X” begins, as CBS News explains. Or billions of nymphs, according to scientists, who spend almost two decades underground before emerging, molting, mating, laying eggs and then dying, all against the backdrop of the deafening noise that males make to seduce females.
Last released in 2004
The last time they emerged was in 2004. Their mass release has just started. Residents had been watching for signs of their arrival for weeks, sharing photos of the tunnels they dug to make their way to the surface when ready to deconfin.
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Tim Pfeiffer began reporting on the event on Twitter. The 28-year-old, who lives in Silver Spring in Maryland, near Washington, had published in early May videos of some animals a little ahead of their fellows, crawling on his veranda.
Tim Pfeiffer continues to document this event. He told AFP to be “more worried than enthusiastic”, but although they “are quite disgusting when they are in the state of nymphs, to see them adopt their adult form in less than an hour is fascinating”.
For those who want to participate in documenting the 2021 vintage, an application called “Cicada Safari” allows you to note on a map the places where the insects have been seen, with supporting photos.
Crushed cicadas, danger on cycle paths
And on the Nextdoor neighborhood network, comments on the subject are multiplying, with lots of advice on living together with cicadas when they fly everywhere. “Buy yourself a protective visor, put on a cap, take a fly swatter with you, and don’t roll your windows down while driving,” advises one user. On social networks, users post photos and videos with the hashtag #BroodX or # CicadaWatch2021.
Because be careful, warn those who have already experienced the arrival of cicadas: it would not be a question of risking an accident by being surprised at the wheel by insects who have come to share a moment with you in the passenger compartment. On a bike, too, you have to be careful, says another Nextdoor user, who urges cyclists to “pedal slowly” because “cicadas run over on bike paths is very slippery.”
“They don’t bite, don’t sting”
But don’t let that make us forget that cicadas are harmless, and that the comparisons with the devastating grasshoppers, tempting in these times of pandemic and disaster movie atmosphere, do not hold up. They may damage some shrubs, but are not harmful to trees and plants in general.
And “they don’t bite, don’t sting. They won’t kidnap little children or dogs like the monkeys in The Wizard of Oz,” Michael J. Raupp, entomologist at the University of Maryland, said with humor. the CBS Baltimore channel. They will not disturb barbecues either, adds the scientist. Because they feed “on sap. They are not interested in burgers and hot dogs,” he laughs.
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On the other hand, the more adventurous, who would be ready to transform them into dishes, can consult on the internet the recipes concocted in 2004 by the biologist Jenna Jadin: cicadas with mushrooms or chocolate, there is – almost – for all tastes. .
