View Full Version : Ciadas to swarm this spring
Slo-go'en
03-16-2016, 10:57
Apparently SW PA and parts of VA, WVA, MD and OH will see a once in 17 year swarming of Cicadas this year, as soon as the soil reaches 64 degrees and it rains a little. This is expected to happen late April or Early May, possibly just in time for the flip floppers to experience.
... from the northwest corner of a brand new crescent moon, while crickets and cicadas sing a rare and different tune ...
WingedMonkey
03-16-2016, 11:49
I wish my camera had sound record back in 1995 at Mcafee's Knob.
The valley below was filled with the sounds of Cicadas amplified up to the knob.
The sound was unbelievable.
rocketsocks
03-16-2016, 13:13
... from the northwest corner of a brand new crescent moon, while crickets and cicadas sing a rare and different tune ...in the shadows of the moon...
Just in time for my hike!
Smoky Spoon
03-16-2016, 15:29
Mine too! ��
Just in time for my hike!
HooKooDooKu
03-16-2016, 16:30
... will see a once in 17 year swarming of Cicadas this year ...
Not really a "once in 17 year" event.
Cicadas pretty much swarm every year... it's just a question of which "brood".
Magicicada is a genus of several different species of periodical cicadas. These cicadas live for 13 or 17 years (depending upon the species). They feed on roots underground during their 13 or 17 year maturing stage. Then the entire "brood" emerge all at once to mate and lay eggs... starting the 13 to 17 year life cycle all over again.
"Broods" consist of one or more species of Cicadas that emerge at the same time in the same general area. With an estimated 30ish different broods, there's usually at least one brood that matures in any given year. Broods vary in size and extent.
Brood V is what should emerge this year, but it is not a particularly large or wide-spread brood. Others due out in 2021 and 2024 are much larger and far more wide spread.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodical_cicadas
JumpMaster Blaster
03-16-2016, 17:00
I was born and raised in the Northern Panhandle of West Virgina. It was the spring of my 5th grade year (1982), and I distinctly remembering those hideous creatures covering every tree, bush, getting into my hair (!), and basically tormenting me for a couple weeks. I was terrified of the damn things.
Doing the math, this IS the same brood; 1982/1999/2016. Suffice to say I'm glad to not be hiking up in that area this year. Nope, I'll pass on locust swarms of biblical proportions (lol), thank you very much.
jimmyjam
03-16-2016, 18:23
Cool beans! I like all the insect sounds.
Studlintsean
03-16-2016, 21:31
They make great fishing bait also...
rocketsocks
03-16-2016, 23:25
They make great fishing bait also...i got a couple different colored lures (artificial cicadas) that the preseason bass just love thrown shallow in the lillie pads and jigged off.
JaketheFake
03-17-2016, 00:05
in the shadows of the moon...
And you know you'll be there soon....
Not really a "once in 17 year" event.
Cicadas pretty much swarm every year... it's just a question of which "brood".
Magicicada is a genus of several different species of periodical cicadas. These cicadas live for 13 or 17 years (depending upon the species). They feed on roots underground during their 13 or 17 year maturing stage. Then the entire "brood" emerge all at once to mate and lay eggs... starting the 13 to 17 year life cycle all over again.
"Broods" consist of one or more species of Cicadas that emerge at the same time in the same general area. With an estimated 30ish different broods, there's usually at least one brood that matures in any given year. Broods vary in size and extent.
Brood V is what should emerge this year, but it is not a particularly large or wide-spread brood. Others due out in 2021 and 2024 are much larger and far more wide spread.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodical_cicadas
i'm glad someone else dispelled this myth before i got around to it.it never ceases to amaze me how many people insist that every cicada everywhere in the world is on the exact same 17 year cycle and you never, ever see a cicada anywhere at any other time. utter nonsense. how these people never notice that every 17 years seems to come round every 3 or 4 years (because especially big brood years are at least that common) also puzzles me
fiddlehead
03-17-2016, 01:47
Good protein too.
My wife is from Issan.
They love them.
But they can be really loud.
colorado_rob
03-17-2016, 08:29
Funny, I don't see a single word that implies that there is only one 17-year brood cycle on Cicadas.... The OP was referring to a particular geographic area with a particular brood. Is there more than one brood in that area?
Anyway, this is really cool news, as I will be out there hiking in late April. I hope to catch the start of this phenomenon. I grew up in SW Ohio, we had a cycle that included 1970 which I remember very well (I was to be a freshman in HS after that summer), then in 1987, a year I happened to be living back there for a couple years, I missed the 2004 cycle, might have to schedule a visit with relatives in 2021 I suppose...
Anyway, tons of fun witnessing this natural phenomenon! Great news.
I was born and raised in the Northern Panhandle of West Virgina. It was the spring of my 5th grade year (1982), and I distinctly remembering those hideous creatures covering every tree, bush, getting into my hair (!), and basically tormenting me for a couple weeks. I was terrified of the damn things.
Doing the math, this IS the same brood; 1982/1999/2016. Suffice to say I'm glad to not be hiking up in that area this year. Nope, I'll pass on locust swarms of biblical proportions (lol), thank you very much.
I also remember the '82 and '99 outbreaks. I was in college in '99. One of my friends had a dog that loved to eat those things.
I hiked through a minor outbreak during June 2013. I was surprised that I only saw/heard them for like half a day. I assumed they would be much more widespread.
TexasBob
03-17-2016, 10:26
........ One of my friends had a dog that loved to eat those things......
I can't remember the year exactly but it was probably around 2003 we had a huge hatch in Northern Virginia. I went out in the yard one night when I noticed the dog nosing around the grass under some trees and chewing something. The grass was actually wiggling as thousands of cicadas were coming out of the ground and crawling to get to the trees and bushes so they could climb up. I watched them for quite awhile, it was fascinating. For the next couple of weeks they were everywhere. Collectively they made a noise that sounded like a diesel truck idling not the high pitched sound you usually hear. They drilled the outer most twigs on all the trees to lay their eggs and caused a lot of damage.
Funny, I don't see a single word that implies that there is only one 17-year brood cycle on Cicadas.... The OP was referring to a particular geographic area with a particular brood. Is there more than one brood in that area?.
We have a 13 year brood in our area which is known as Brood 19. The brood expected this year is Brood 5 which is a 17 year locust.
The last major brood was in 2008, a 17 year locust in this area (Maryland) which is expected again in 2025.
Read about it here: http://www.cicadamania.com/where.html
We have a 13 year brood in our area which is known as Brood 19. The brood expected this year is Brood 5 which is a 17 year locust.
The last major brood was in 2008, a 17 year locust in this area (Maryland) which is expected again in 2025.
Read about it here: http://www.cicadamania.com/where.html
not to mention that pretty much everywhere there are small amounts, not sure what qualifies as a brood, that are on their own whole cycle. a year when one saw no cicada's might be the truly noteworthy occurrence.
JaketheFake
03-17-2016, 12:27
i'm glad someone else dispelled this myth before i got around to it.it never ceases to amaze me how many people insist that every cicada everywhere in the world is on the exact same 17 year cycle and you never, ever see a cicada anywhere at any other time. utter nonsense. how these people never notice that every 17 years seems to come round every 3 or 4 years (because especially big brood years are at least that common) also puzzles me
Does this mean we have to stop tossing Terrapin Station quotes out?
rocketsocks
03-17-2016, 14:09
Does this mean we have to stop tossing Terrapin Station quotes out?never...mwahhhahh
Does this mean we have to stop tossing Terrapin Station quotes out?
no, but thats as good a theory as any as to why the misconception is so rampant.
displacedbeatnik
03-17-2016, 15:35
This is expected to happen late April or Early May, possibly just in time for the flip floppers to experience.
At least we flip-floppers get something special.
not to mention that pretty much everywhere there are small amounts, not sure what qualifies as a brood, that are on their own whole cycle. a year when one saw no cicada's might be the truly noteworthy occurrence.
From the website I posted earlier:
Question: Why do I have cicadas in my neighborhood, but your chart indicates that I shouldn't?
Answer: Some possibilities: 1) they are stragglers (http://www.cicadamania.com/cicadas/what-are-stragglers/), periodical cicadas that emerge too soon or late, 2) they are not periodical cicadas, and are another North American (http://www.cicadamania.com/genera/north-america.html) species, or 3) you live on a continent other than North America, in which case, try one of these pages (http://www.cicadamania.com/genera/).
Traveler
03-18-2016, 07:41
From the website I posted earlier:
Question: Why do I have cicadas in my neighborhood, but your chart indicates that I shouldn't?
Answer: Some possibilities: 1) they are stragglers (http://www.cicadamania.com/cicadas/what-are-stragglers/), periodical cicadas that emerge too soon or late, 2) they are not periodical cicadas, and are another North American (http://www.cicadamania.com/genera/north-america.html) species, or 3) you live on a continent other than North America, in which case, try one of these pages (http://www.cicadamania.com/genera/).
Option 4 is: Rockesocks has painstakingly put a few hundred bugs in some jars and released them in your back yard.