Perhaps you’d like to see the results of our Cicada invasion
of a few weeks ago.
You may recall that these insects live underground for 17
years and then emerge almost in unison to molt from their hard shell, sprout
wings, fly, mate, lay eggs and then die.
These pictures show what they do to trees and lawns. Once
they mate the female lays her eggs in a leaf cluster and then chews the end of
the branch so it eventually falls to the ground and the eggs hatch, the tiny
creatures borrow into the ground and live off the sap of tree roots for
seventeen years.
Supposedly there are 600 or so eggs per leaf cluster.
They were so numerous in parts of my region that many trees
look like they were decorated with clumps of dead leaves. The ground too is
festooned with dozens of fallen clusters.
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