Monday, August 5, 2013

Cicada Aftermath


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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