Midwest Bracing For Cicada Invasion

"Brood XIII" Set To Emerge In Force For First Time In 17 Years

(AP)  Coming soon: Brood XIII. It sounds like a bad horror movie. But it's actually the official name of the billions of periodical cicadas expected to emerge this month in parts of the Midwest after spending 17 years underground.

The red-eyed, shrimp-sized, flying insects don't bite or sting. But they are known for mating calls that produce such a din as to overpower ringing telephones, lawn mowers and power tools.

As nymphs burrowing underground, cicadas suck sap from tree roots. Almost all members of a group, or brood, burst from the ground within a couple days of each other.

They quickly climb the nearest vertical surface to molt and unroll their wings. In some heavily wooded areas, as many as 1.5 million cicadas per acre will crowd onto trees, expert say.

"It's one of the greatest insect emergences on Earth," said Daniel Summers, an entomologist at The Field Museum.

Brood XIII is expected across northern Illinois, and in parts of Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana. Cicadas live only about 30 days as adults, and their main goal is mating.

A single male's shrill courtship call can reach 90 decibels, equivalent to a kitchen blender. And THAT is scaring some people who have outdoor events planned for the next few weeks.

Ravinia Festival, an 103-year-old music festival held north of Chicago, "counterprogrammed" its schedule to avoid classical musicians having to compete with the insects, said festival president and CEO Welz Kauffman.

June will see more pop bands outdoors, a few concerts moved indoors, and a visit from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. "With 350 voices on stage, they can hold their own against the bugs," Kauffman said.

At the Chicago Botanic Garden down the road, spokeswoman Gloria Ciaccio joked that her advice for brides holding outdoor weddings there will be to put the tent flaps down, and turn the music up.

In Lake Geneva, Wis., hotel concierge Pat Sheahan is worried that no one will sign up for her walks around the lake.

"If these babies are going to be bugging the heck of out everybody, that's no good," she said.

And one Illinois company that provides ice sculptures has turned down several outdoor parties over the next month. That's because of what happened when owner Jim Nadeau delivered a swan statue to a wedding in 1990, during the area's last emergence of the periodical cicadas.

"We put our tray down and immediately the cicadas came off the ground and attacked the ice. Literally, it was a moving sculpture, this big black ugly mass of cicadas constantly moving," said Nadeau, who owns Nadeau Ice Sculptures of Forest Park.

"I don't want to talk myself out of work, but that was just too gross," he said.

[jjjhilkins]

Cicadas are gay. Buncha ******* trying to ruin the bug world. *** em.

[thewatcher6]

President Bush is the blame for this, why didn't he have a plan on hand to protect us from these crittres.

[pensacola8-2009]

You should hear the broods in Laredo, Texas where thousands of cicadas can form a loud and deafening symphony. Falling asleep in a hammock under a huge live oak tree filled with cicadas is a favorite Memorial Day pasttime.

[ralan40]

I guess this brood is nastier than brood X from 2004. The news stories then made little or no mention of that one. But the Memorial Golf Tourney in Dublin, OH was very disrupted by these things. I suggest you people in Chicagoland keep car windows and sunroofs closed...and wear a helmet if on a cycle, they can be quite painful on impact!

[retmilspouse]

(Sorry, I know this topic is not about politics, but sometimes you just have to answer these right-wing nut jobs!)

Posted by nolalou at 09:43 AM : May 21, 2007

Yea the only thing worse is a left wing nut job. We all know you're sorry you don't have to admit it.

[asor1-2009]

"Cicadas live only about 30 days as adults, and their main goal is mating."
...and how is this different than my husband? Other than the '30 day lifespan' I see an incredible similarity.

[heyitsme_76]

Illegal Cicadas ?? Send them to Mexico..!!!

[rawehage]

Cicadas are low in fat and high in protine and make good eating. Yum, yum.

[ioweign]

mdk2dude,
What has the Republicans passed in the last SIX YEARS!!!

[rf35]

I find these critters more annoying than interesting. I got to hear an emergence in Korea in '99 and it was not fun. These things were everywhere and they sounded a lot louder than a blender...more like an F-16 taking off when you get several in the same tree. Painfully loud. After a couple weeks, they molted again and started leaving their old exoskeletons all over the place. I'm glad I don't live in the Midwest. Whoever wants to eat them, go for it! I%u2019ve enjoyed roast grasshopper (just a little salt and they were good) but these guys are a little too ugly for me.

[hober_mallow]

When I was 5 years old living near Chicago, we were at a family picnic. The HUGEST ugly bug, like a giant fly, landed on my hand and totally freaked me out. It had to be poisonous !!!

As I got older and became interested in science, I created the typical insect collection, but never read a description of giant flies, and always wondered what had landed on me.

17 years after that first 'episode', the cicadas emerged again, and I finally got to learn what that bug was back when I was 5.

[bloggerbud]

Nolalou,

When you wrestle with pigs they like it and you get dirty.

[antoniof123]

This is going to be so cool!!!!

[bareemperor]

Vice President D!ck Cheney loads the shotgun...
"Gonna git me some Chiqitas!"

[comfortmd1]

iron chef cicada

[mo005]

What a life these little noise makers have. Chill for 17 years, then get some and die. what a way to go. My only question is, what is their purpose in the world. Just food for the ground or what.

[ares44-2009]

I think this is going to be a very exciting event in out history because it only happens every 17 years.This will be a great chance for us to really study out this insects live and grow and what not,this is going to be very over welling.

[rharrin1]

Leave them alone they are registered republicans.

[shortestfuse]

I could waste my time showing the stupidity of your argument that Pelosi has not passed one bill that was made into law, but then I'd be trying to talk sense into someone with less intelligence than a Cicada!
Posted by nolalou

If you bothered to read what the initial poster said, you would realize that your comment shows where the real lack of intelligence lies, and what a waste of time your comment really is.

[wayfedup]

If dogs love them so much, MAYBE the dogfood companies should gather them up and make dogfood out of them INSTEAD of using wheat gluten, which recently has been found to be lethal to dogs... just a thought! :-)