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Cicadas 2021 - Brood X


FXW176
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My only memory of them is from 2004. Unbelievably cool and a great learning experience. I loved watching to see which animals adapted quickly enough to realize they had a free lunch...and dinner.... Amazing to see how the long and unique life cycle of the periodical cicada exempts it from many things that other species constantly deal with in order to survive.

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One of my earliest preschool memories in 1987- I was only four years old.

2004 I was a senior at UMBC and they were everywhere on campus. My grandmother's house in Glen Burnie had probably the densest cicada coverage I had seen.

My oldest son doesn't believe me about how loud and dense it can be. He's about to find out.

I wonder if the blue eyed cicada myth will circulate again this time too. :lol:

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5 minutes ago, George BM said:

How many would you guessitmate were on the ground per square meter in the 1970 outbreak?

I was a 7-year old kid so I probably wouldn't be able to give a very scientific measurement.  But I do remember piles of shells on the ground everywhere, not just under or around the trees.  We tried tent camping in my cousin's backyard and gave up pretty quickly when it was apparent it would be impossible to sleep with the noise.

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1970 was bad.  87 not as bad and 04 seemed awful.  If you cannot hear them around your home just drive with windows down.  It usually doesn't take long to find an area overrun with them.  They can get really LOUD too when in big numbers.  I remember I was in Columbia near Merriweather Post in the woods and it was impossible to talk on the phone.  As I was walking toward the end of the woods they started landing on me.  They aren't much to worry about until they start crawling on the back of your neck and dig their damn claws in like a kitten clinging for dear life!

The periodical cicadas remind me of steamed crabs with their orange exoskeleton and red eyes.  The more familiar annual cicadas are larger and dark green.  Songs are different too.

 

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2004 was awful in Falls Church/ Fairfax,  Mclean....but no brood south of Clifton/ Manassas. The southern burbs got it good in 2012 or 2013 ( can't remember when) Either way its horrifying. You always had the feeling there was one hanging onto your collar or the back of your shorts. Because you really couldn't feel them unless they were crawling on your skin. A lot of women had them wrapped up in their hair. Kind of funny but ultimately creepy. 

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Also reposting from Banter since I missed this being a thread....

Back to cicadas, a reminder to the people with green thumbs here, do NOT plant any new fruit trees or bushes this spring until the Brood is dead. They will destroy them because they love the nutrients from fruit forward plants. If you currently have fruit trees and plants, make sure to cover them with a net to prevent invasions of them from getting to them. Saw this when I was reading up scientific info on Brood X. 

I will never forget the 2004 Brood in my neighborhood. I lived right next to Graham State Forest and we were inundated beyond belief.

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I was a senior at the Naval Academy getting ready to graduate.  They were everywhere.  It was nuts.  Our class always jokes that we had a natural disaster (Isabelle) and a plague of locusts during our senior year.  At least our water didn't turn to blood and we avoided livestock pestilence.  

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16 hours ago, stormtracker said:

I absolutely HATE them.  They remind of one of the two things that are my weakness: a big ass roach.    I HATE HATE HATE them.   This is the time of year that I love birds even more.   A buffet for them.

 

15 hours ago, EHoffman said:

Don't worry there will also be giant wasps eating them too

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

My cat likes the regular every year cicada, so this year will be a smorgasbord for her.  

In 2004, I had just bought my old house and started renovating it that spring.  I didn't have AC yet and the sound from first light to evening was piercing.  We got the addition closed in by mid June and I had to shop vac about three inches of dead cicadas out of my new crawl space.  I can't wait for this year's brood.

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On 2/23/2021 at 8:56 PM, PrinceFrederickWx said:

One of my earliest preschool memories in 1987- I was only four years old.

2004 I was a senior at UMBC and they were everywhere on campus. My grandmother's house in Glen Burnie had probably the densest cicada coverage I had seen.

My oldest son doesn't believe me about how loud and dense it can be. He's about to find out.

I wonder if the blue eyed cicada myth will circulate again this time too. :lol:

That’s funny, my memory of them from 2004 was at umbc as well.  I remember jogging around the loop one evening seeing them emerge out of the ground and I got down on all 4’s to watch.  A cop pulled over asking me what the hell I was doing... he then got out and started watching them come out of ground as well.  

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2 hours ago, birdsofprey02 said:

That’s funny, my memory of them from 2004 was at umbc as well.  I remember jogging around the loop one evening seeing them emerge out of the ground and I got down on all 4’s to watch.  A cop pulled over asking me what the hell I was doing... he then got out and started watching them come out of ground as well.  

This is really interesting...and obviously enough to catch your attention. Did the turf look like it was boiling all of a sudden? Being totally serious, as I've never actually SEEN the cicadas emerge from the ground during the 2-3 times there have been mass brood emergences in my lifetime.

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