Free monitor food for 6 weeks..

[Gregg M]

There are literally thousands just on my street.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8558/8896365113_8cc8ceec3e_b.jpg

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3752/8896367937_fed2358435_b.jpg

[smy_749]

How are you dealing with the noise? Collect em and shove what you can't use in the freezer or something. I haven't seen any around here although we are supposedly a hot spot for them

[bigsnakegirl785]

Even though we were in the projected range before all of the cicadas started hatching, we didn't get any. Oh, well. At least you got free food. ;)

[Pirarucu]

I wouldn't do that... If I read right cicadas are one of the species that can absorb lots of pesticides and such.. Considering that they've been in the ground for seventeen years or so, that isn't too hard to believe..

[smy_749]

What is the lifecycle like? Will molting help with that at all? Aren't there fresh babies emerging as well who havent been underground 17 years but are the next batch?

[Pirarucu]

What is the lifecycle like? Will molting help with that at all? Aren't there fresh babies emerging as well who havent been underground 17 years but are the next batch?Nymphs live underground for seventeen years before they emerge. Then they breed and lay eggs, so the next generation will emerge in seventeen years.
All the ones you see are seventeen years old. As far as molting, only for the stuff on their exoskeletons. That won't help with anything they've actually absorbed.

[jarich]

Nymphs live underground for seventeen years before they emerge. Then they breed and lay eggs, so the next generation will emerge in seventeen years.
All the ones you see are seventeen years old. As far as molting, only for the stuff on their exoskeletons. That won't help with anything they've actually absorbed.

Not quite true. Metal accumulation from the exposure to the soil is actually concentrated in the exoskeleton and molted off regularly in both 13 and 17 year cicadas. Their bodies actually do not seem to accumulate these pesticides or metals in any substantial amount, which makes sense as they feed on xylem fluids rather than the soil itself. (They essentially eat sap thats already filtered through the trees) Studies have shown that cicadas do not accumulate pesticides or metals in any higher, and often in lower, concentrations than other invertebrates. Cu seems to be the only one that they show any increase in, and that is sex and species specific.

These are super cool bugs. There are up to around 1.5 million in an acre in certain areas. They also have a good Ca:P ratio and no natural defenses.

[Pirarucu]

Not quite true. Metal accumulation from the exposure to the soil is actually concentrated in the exoskeleton and molted off regularly in both 13 and 17 year cicadas. Their bodies actually do not seem to accumulate these pesticides or metals in any substantial amount, which makes sense as they feed on xylem fluids rather than the soil itself. (They essentially eat sap thats already filtered through the trees) Studies have shown that cicadas do not accumulate pesticides or metals in any higher, and often in lower, concentrations than other invertebrates. Cu seems to be the only one that they show any increase in, and that is sex and species specific.

These are super cool bugs. There are up to around 1.5 million in an acre in certain areas. They also have a good Ca:P ratio and no natural defenses.I stand corrected, thank you Jarich.