After a 17-year nap, Cicadas climb up a telephone pole, May 16, 2004, in Annandale, Va. The life cycle of the periodical cicada is long but relatively simple. Adults usually emerge between late April and early June. After mating, females lay eggs in trees. Eggs hatch in six to eight weeks. Nymphs fall to the ground and burrow down to the root system for their long wait until the next emergence.
The exoskeleton of a cicada hangs upside down from a branch as it is framed by a U.S. flag hanging in a yard, May 21, 2004, in Etters, Pa.
Mid-Atlantic and Midwest residents are dealing with billions of red-eyed cicadas, shown May 21, 2004, in Annandale, Va.
A newly emerged Cicada is seen in the yard of a home in suburban Washington, D.C., May 15, 2004. Loudmouthed and ugly, the cicadas will fly clumsily into pets, bushes and unwitting pedestrians as they engage in a frenetic mating ritual that lasts well into June. Then they'll disappear for another 17 years.
A Brood X cicada emerges, May 18, 2004, in Lakeside Park, Ky.
Daniel Sprague looks down at a cicada he placed on his nose in Nashville, Tenn.
The exoskeletons of newly emerged adult cicadas are shown, May 21, 2004, in Annandale, Va.
A newly emerged Cicada sheds his old shell, May 15, 2004, in the yard of a home in suburban Washington, D.C.
Two mature cicadas rest nearby as a newly emerged cicada sheds its old skin on a tree near Trenton, Ohio, May 18, 2004.