Periodic Cicadas

On Saturday, we left my Aunt Jessica’s house to go to the Locust Lake State Park, Pennsylvania where we would be staying in tents for two days and one night. Once we got there, we set up the tents and new sleeping pads. After that we went to look for periodic cicadas in a forest, but you had to go to a higher elevation while still in the forest. Here’s what you need to know about periodic cicadas. Periodic cicadas are about 2 to 3inches in length, and about 3/4-1inch in length, about the same in height. They do not fly very well, and do not weigh that much. Their life begins when a mother cicada lays her eggs in a Y-like slit in a young tree branch. The eggs eventually hatch into little tiny babies smaller than a fingernail. Those babies then hop off the tree and onto the ground. They then start to burrow down into the ground, where they suck on the tree sap/juice. After about 13 to 17 years, depending on the species, they will come out in massive numbers. And all of them, except the ones who don’t make it, split their exoskeleton to molt. Once they are out of their old exoskeleton, you are able to see small, shriveled wings, which will open up and harden when the cicada pumps blood into them. Sometimes the process fails and the cicada can’t get out of its shell, or it doesn’t pump the blood fast enough, causing the wings to stay wrinkled or shriveled up. Other things can harm it too. Birds and other bug eating animals also will eat the cicadas. When it survives, and if it is a male, the cicada will start to call “bweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-up” to find a mate. It will start to move towards an unfertilized female in hope of mating with it. If it is a female, it will just sit there until a male comes to mate. If they do mate, the female will make a Y shaped slit in a young twig or tree and insert her eggs. The process starts over. Unlike popular belief, adult cicadas need to eat too. They feed on tree sap and have needle-like mouthparts with which to create a hole in the tree to feed from. You can prevent them from doing damage to young trees by putting nets around them. The only parts of the tree they will damage are peripheral branches. Other than that they will do no harm. They will not harm you or hurt you, and are not known for spreading disease. It was all too soon when we had to go, but I couldn’t stay. I was happy and sad. I was sad because I would not see them for another 17 years, and happy because I got to keep a few! They were very amazing, and they were so adorable! I can’t wait until I am 28, when I will see them next! I really hope to write another blog post on other long-living insects!