civilservant

https://www.theguardian.com/environm...rge-eastern-us

So... I haven't been here for 17 years (8 this year) so have never seen or heard them in the flesh.

For my fellow BE East Coasters that have seen or heard of these little blighters, are they really as loud and obnoxious as the article mentions?

Jerseygirl

The year we moved to NJ (1996) there was an outbreak of the 17 year cicadas. We didn’t see them in our area, but people nearby by said every outdoor surface was covered in dead cicadas. Apparently dogs loved to eat the ones littering the ground.

We used to get them every summer, but not in huge numbers. Yes they are very loud. In ‘96 people said the noise outside sounded like heavy construction machines outside their windows.

chawkins99

I have heard them but wasn't aware of the 17-year cycle. I thought they happened every year.

I have seen them very infrequently.

They are loud. I remember driving down a tree-lined road with the windows down and it was a continuous racket. There were probably thousands of them in the trees.

robin1234

They are absolutely not obnoxious - unless you dislike insects. I remember we were on Cape Cod at the time of the last manifestation, probably 2004 as suggested by this article. In places where they were emerging from the ground and metamorphosing it was really spectacular. Every tree trunk was covered with the empty larval cases, and the adults were flying about everywhere. I’m glad to see them myself, it’s a sign that natural life still has at least a toehold in a human dominated world.

robin1234

Yes - there are always some, I believe because there are various different species, some with much shorter life cycles, and also because there are different populations of the 17year one that might be on different year-cycles for various historical reasons.

civilservant

You are correct with the differing lifecycles point, Wikipedia has a good article on them with the locations of different pods, and their expecting hatching dates. It seems that some hatch most years.

robin1234

One thing about cicadas is that they are good to eat. They are big enough, and plentiful enough, to make it worthwhile.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/a...-pause/276096/

scrubbedexpat091

Never encountered the 17 year variety, but California areas have them every year, they can get a little loud, but its not really annoying or obnoxious, California has something like 65 species of them.

California's variety come out annually and in smaller numbers though.

tom169

Definitely the sound of the summer in North Carolina. To be honest there is something soothing in the sound.

civilservant

Of course I've heard the regular variety here in GA every summer, but the article kind of implies that they are 'next level' loud.

I guess we can report back after they have arrived and see what it's all about

rbackhouse

I was (and still am) in NC in 2004 and don't really remember them being that bad. Certainly more of them but not really any loader.

Lion in Winter

I remember the 17-year guys.

Red eyes. Noisy, like all cicadas. Harmless.

Hiro11

We had a 17 year brood come through Illinois about 10 years ago.
- everything was covered in cicada carapaces and dead cicadas
- my dog had the greatest two weeks of his life
- a cicada flew into my mouth while I was running. They are large.

That's about it. It's not some sort of biblical terror. Annual outbreaks of love bugs in Florida are far worse.

Lion in Winter

Apparently they've been around for 1.8 million years. They look it, too.






https://patch.com/illinois/across-il...-illinois-2021

Steerpike

Regarding the sound ... I love that 'chirping sound' you get on warm summer evenings with the windows open. But ... am I mixing up cicadas and crickets?