Cicadas

[Jerloma]

Help me out here...the cicadas are supposed to invade once every 17 years and this is happening within the next few weeks, correct? Didn't we have a long thread in the Swamp maybe 6 or 7 years ago the last time the cicadas came?

[A_B]

Help me out here...the cicadas are supposed to invade once every 17 years and this is happening within the next few weeks, correct? Didn't we have a long thread in the Swamp maybe 6 or 7 years ago the last time the cicadas came?

There are different types with varying life cycles. Apparently 2004 was a big cicada year.

[Shirley]

There are different broods that emerge at different intervals (always prime numbers of years, I believe). There will be some cicadas every year, but in some years you get a LOT. I think the 17-year brood that emerges this year is a particularly large one.

[Scottie]

There's dozens, if not hundreds, of different types. In South Korea, they were there almost year-round. And loud? As if South Korea wasn't loud enough (it's like being shrunk with a ray gun and being forced to live inside of a pinball machine), you get millions of those things in the trees all making the same friggin' sound at the same time.

Imagine this amplified by a million:

[media]http://www.insectsingers.com/100th_meri ... ltered.mp3[/media]

[A_B]

I remember going to the CIncinnati Zoo one time when the cicadas were out in full force. MADDENING.

And usually the birds have a good year the year after a cicada emergence due to the abundance of food.

[Jerloma]

I don't recall them ever. I don't think we get them in the northeast.

[The Sybian]

I don't recall them ever. I don't think we get them in the northeast.

I remember a particularly horrible year in DC, maybe 2004.

[kranepool]

I've read estimates that there will be 30 billion of the fuckers invading the East sometime this week.

Then I read, "no, no, those numbers are wrong. It's more like 1 trillion cicadas are coming. It'll be wall-to-wall."

Makes it very difficult, given that I believe everything I read.

[Scottie]

Yeah, you get them in the northeast. They show up in Nova Scotia, all the way to Cape Breton. If you've never been inflicted with them, count yourself lucky. They're about to proliferate the entire east coast. Have a look at the map in this story.

[The Sybian]

I've read estimates that there will be 30 billion of the fuckers invading the East sometime this week.

Then I read, "no, no, those numbers are wrong. It's more like 1 trillion cicadas are coming. It'll be wall-to-wall."

Makes it very difficult, given that I believe everything I read.

Both numbers are 100% accurate.

[bfj]

I can't stand these fucking things.

[Steve of phpBB]

I've read estimates that there will be 30 billion of the fuckers invading the East sometime this week.

Then I read, "no, no, those numbers are wrong. It's more like 1 trillion cicadas are coming. It'll be wall-to-wall."

Makes it very difficult, given that I believe everything I read.

They were wall to wall back in Chicago in 1990-ish. They would totally cover a screen door, and you would crush them as you walked.

Ick.

[vandwagon]

I can't stand these fucking things.

They were everywhere back in 2004. I was living near Patterson Park back then and we didn't have them bad at all down there, but at my office in Towson, you couldn't hear yourself think they were so loud. I thought it sounded like something out of a horror movie right before some horrible monster killed his victims.

[travzilla]

So, what exactly is their annoyance level? is it just the loudness and everywhereness, or do they actually buzz around your head, or land on or bite people or anything?

[Sabo]

So, what exactly is their annoyance level? is it just the loudness and everywhereness, or do they actually buzz around your head, or land on or bite people or anything?

They are loud, they are everywhere, they can buzz around you and land on you. But they don't bite. They're just very large insects that make a ton of noise, and it annoys people. Imagine everyone around you blowing a vuvuzela all day, every day for a couple of weeks.

But they reportedly are very nutritious and taste like asparagus.

[ZMan]

We definitely get them on Long Island, though I don't recall any horror story similarities. I mean, you see 'em and hear them, but not covering every inch of everything, or so loud you can't think.

The only time I recall a bug infestation of that scale was the Gypsy Moth caterpillar invasion back in the early 80's. It wasn't so bad on LI, but you'd go upstate and they were fucking everywhere. You'd walk outside for 5 minutes and have 30 on your pants leg. Totally freaked me out.

When my moms had her pool installed the dig fucked up a shitload of cicadas buried under a pine tree. There was at least a thousand half-inch wide holes in the dirt, perfect little circles. It was kind of mind blowing.

[elflaco]

2004...may 2004.. DC/MD area... wedding... my father in law spent the morning clearing away the cicada carpet in the yard as my then-future-wife had a thing about walking out to the rolls in her gown and not wanting any of hte critters on her.

i seem to remember in mid 80s in hs..there was some cicada-eating contest going on at lunchtime.

cant wait to see the little critters again.

[Nonlinear FC]

They're just a nuisance, not anything nefarious.

And unlike the fucking stink bugs that have infested the mid-atlantic, at least cicadas die off and don't seem to want to be up in your business (house). Stink bugs suck because they want to be warm, so they find their way into your house.

[rass]

Saw the first ones this morning. Four or five shells, plus a freshly molted bug (see below), all on one telephone pole. Despite actively looking afterwards, those were the only ones I saw. Maybe they're attracted to dog piss?

[A_B]

17-year olds loitering around the streets have always been a nuisance.

[kranepool]

I think they come out when the ground temperature is 64 degrees.

I could be completely making this up.

But yeah, makes sense that it's time. I'm not going outside until late October.

[The Sybian]

Saw the first ones this morning. Four or five shells, plus a freshly molted bug (see below), all on one telephone pole. Despite actively looking afterwards, those were the only ones I saw. Maybe they're attracted to dog piss?

Walking to the bus stop this morning, my son pointed out a cicada husk. I never would have noticed it among the massive piles of pollen on the ground. Then we saw at least 20 more. They are a lot bigger than I would have expected.

[Sabo]

The cicadas emerged a week ago. Now, they're so loud it sounds like there are 20 police cars with their sirens on.

For the hell of it, I bought an app for my phone to measure decibel readings. I measured the sound in three spots: A storage closet along an interior wall where there's almost no sound, my office (which is near the closet but along the outside wall) and outside on my back patio. Here are the average readings:

Storage closet: 35 dB
Office: 39 dB
Back patio: 70 dB

It's astounding how much noise these damn things make.

[L-Jam3]

I bet that's loud enough to scare away a lot of birds.

[duff]

Do they keep the dogs away?

[Rex]

Hmm, according to this he should have had another hit in 2009.

[Sabo]

Do they keep the dogs away?

Unfortunately not. Although the cicadas' sound does somewhat mute the barking and shrieking yells of my neighbor.

[Johnnie]

I'm pretty late posting this:

[EnochRoot]

The cicadas emerged a week ago. Now, they're so loud it sounds like there are 20 police cars with their sirens on.

For the hell of it, I bought an app for my phone to measure decibel readings. I measured the sound in three spots: A storage closet along an interior wall where there's almost no sound, my office (which is near the closet but along the outside wall) and outside on my back patio. Here are the average readings:

Storage closet: 35 dB
Office: 39 dB
Back patio: 70 dB

It's astounding how much noise these damn things make.

Wow. If you're getting only a 50% reduction (presuming dB readings aren't on a richter-type scale (?), then the call may be coming from inside the house!

What app?

[Sabo]

Wow. If you're getting only a 50% reduction (presuming dB readings aren't on a richter-type scale (?), then the call may be coming from inside the house!

What app?

dB Meter from the iOS store.

According to Wikipedia, the decibel is a logarithmic unit, and an increase in 10 decibels means the sound is increased by a factor of 10. So, that means the outside sounds were about 1,500 times louder than inside. I think. I'm probably wrong because I suck at math.