The 17 year cicada is here. (locust) PIC HEAVY.

[Rand]

Friday, I was mowing some acreage near Carrollton Ohio in preparation for the memorial day cookout.

They started coming out of the ground literally.. then they molt on every available surface... then fly around and generally make TONS OF NOISE.

http://www.hometownstations.com/story/32087911/17-year-cicadas-start-to-appear-in-ohio
Quote:

17-year cicadas start to appear in Ohio
Posted: May 28, 2016 10:16 AM EST
Updated: May 28, 2016 10:16 AM EST

ATHENS, Ohio (AP) - The anticipated arrival of the 17-year cicadas is at hand in eastern Ohio.

The prawn-sized insects are starting to emerge from the ground, attach themselves to trees and shed their exoskeletons. Then they'll emerge as flying creatures with red eyes and orange wings and feet. This particular group - or brood - was last seen in eastern Ohio and much of West Virginia in 1999.

The cicadas mate, and the females will lay eggs before the adults die off in about a month. The nymphs will fall to ground, burrow and live for another 17 years.

Residents may hear them before they see them. The collective mating call of the males has been known to drown out the sound of jet planes passing overhead.


THEY ARE super loud its creepy sounding.

First one I saw Friday morning.. it was molting.

After molting they look like this

By Saturday night they looked like this

off-topic
my gas mileage today was good.. computer is generally about .5mpg optimistic .. on the way home it was -2mpg from A/C

1 minute after arrival.. my new buddy found me.. they were literally falling out of the trees after molting.
ps dont mind the Brace and Michael Jackson glove thats my "broken" arm.

1 out of 30million locust agree..Michelin Tires rock

Exoskeletons on random tree.. were literally thousands within 50ft.

One of the smaller fields I mowed... golf course eh.

And finally some distant relatives brought their pet turkey..... yes pet turkey.

 

[CT8]

That is a wild turkey! there was a wild turkey last spring with some chicks hanging around and I wondered if I caught a couple chicks and put them with the chickens is they would be domesticated. I just got my answer.

 

[Shannow]

They look like our run of the mill cicadas...the noise around here when they sing is massive.

They don't "turn on" until 29C here (84F)

BTW, ours come out every year.

 

[larryinnewyork]

Great photos, thanks. I'll be looking out for them.
----------------------------------------------------
17 year cycle.
Question: Is that for all the North/East or smaller areas ? ? ?

That is a wild turkey! there was a wild turkey last spring with some chicks hanging around and I wondered if I caught a couple chicks and put them with the chickens is they would be domesticated. I just got my answer.


I saw a TV Show about a man who raised 8 turkey from the time they hatched.
He was the first human they saw and considered this man to be the parent.
They followed him all-around till they grew bigger.
Then they resorted to being more wild and left the coop.
At this time, one of the turkeys attacked him.

I'd try it thou. Great tasting bird.

 

[kschachn]

Thanks for the pics! Yeah like a lot of insects the only time they are docile enough to handle is right after molting.

I like cicadas, they are of course harmless but pretty fearsome looking. I read once that their call is loud enough to damage a person's hearing if they were right outside your ear.

 

[totegoat]

Lots of wild turkeys here but no cicadas.

 

[aquariuscsm]

I love the sound of Cicadas. Reminds me of summers when I was a kid. Seems you never hear them anymore. I've been seeing lightning bugs alot lately after not seeing them in forever it seemed.

 

[simple_gifts]

There are 17 year cycles for some and 13 year cycles for others.

Crunch them up and fold them into some vanilla ice cream.

Wikipedia has a sound sample to the right.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodical_cicadas

 

[Al]

Cycle years differ. In Pa we have them every year.
http://www.cicadamania.com/where.html

 

[dailydriver]

Do the wild turkeys EAT the cicadas??

 

[andrewg]

Except for a short time after I was born, 99% of my upbringing was out west where cicadas don't exist.
I remember when I joined the Army and was sent to basic training in Georgia. It was late at night..a muggy, HOT summer evening when the bus stopped. The drill sergeant yelled at us to get off the bus. We were under these huge floodlights next to what looked like a jungle. The VERY first thing I noticed was the almost deafening sound of MONSTER insects! Being from out west...I thought I was in Vietnam or something. It was really a shock for me.
Now, decades later, whenever I hear cicadas, it brings me back to that experience as well as the whole southern thing. Pretty cool that basically the entire eastern half of the country has them...while the west is void of them.

 

[Shannow]

Here's what it's like here on a hot afternoon/evening...not my vid.

 

[MinamiKotaro]

My outdoor cats love to catch and play with cicadas.

 

[Merkava_4]

Y'all need more lizards around to eat those bugs.

 

[turtlevette]

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
I love the sound of Cicadas. Reminds me of summers when I was a kid. Seems you never hear them anymore. I've been seeing lightning bugs alot lately after not seeing them in forever it seemed.


I do too. I look forward to hearing them in the hottest part of summer. And seeing the firefly's in the hot weather too.

 

[jhellwig]

Originally Posted By: CT8
That is a wild turkey! there was a wild turkey last spring with some chicks hanging around and I wondered if I caught a couple chicks and put them with the chickens is they would be domesticated. I just got my answer.


That is some sort of domestic breed. It is more hen feathered that wilds are.

 

[Merkava_4]

Dang! I didn't know they eat spiders too!

 

[dlundblad]

Originally Posted By: CT8
That is a wild turkey! there was a wild turkey last spring with some chicks hanging around and I wondered if I caught a couple chicks and put them with the chickens is they would be domesticated. I just got my answer.


Is it wild? Looks too light colored to me.

 

[fdcg27]

Haven't seen them in this part of the state yet, although this is supposed to be their year.
They are loud and they're also pretty good fliers.
I recall seeing a cicada years ago eluding a bird after a snack.
It was like watching a dogfight with the bird trying to get on the cicada's six and the cicada taking evasive action to prevent this.
Pretty amazing that the larval grubs spend so many years in the ground while the adults emerge only to breed and then to die.

 

[Jetronic]

These bugs spend a couple of years underground here, as a larvae. They like oak.

European cockchafer, btw.