Cicada learners permit

 Cicadas may have just emerged, but they spent seventeen years underground. That means they are old enough to drive!  I took this one to get it's learners permit last week even though I doubt it will live the nine months required to get it's provisional license.

Young Love (cicada style)

 "In the Spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love." (Alfred, Lord Tennyson)

Now that the cicada's have been out a little while, and the racket they make has grown increasingly loud, it should come as no surprise that the singing is starting to pay off, at least for this lucky fellow and equally lucky lass.  They are especially lucky that no one stepped on them while they lay in ecstasy on the sidewalk.

After spending today listening to the cicadas, I was a bit surprised tonight to not hear them.

A couple of Cicada videos

Here are a couple of videos I have taken of the cicada attack.

This first video is a time-lapse of a Brood X cicada molting on a blade of grass.  This time-lapse was taken over a period of about 2.5 hours one night. One picture every 15 seconds.  Where a cicada walks over the emerging one and where the emerging cicada flips so it is holding onto its shell I have duplicated each photo 4 times to slow it down and make it easier to see what is happening.

 

This next video isn't a time lapse, it is just a view of about 20 cicada nymphs crawling aimlessly through the grass.  I was taking a timelapse of a molting cicada at night so had a couple of lights turned on, it appears the nymphs are attracted to light.

Some Brood X Cicada Photos

 

The cicadas are out in force and for the past week or so I've been watching them and taking pictures.  Here are a few of my favorites.

 

These Brood X cicadas have been underground for 17 years, but now they are climbing out and onto trees and plants. Once out, they do a final molt to their winged form.  They will only live for about a month longer during which time they will mate and lay eggs.

Timelapse of cicadas molting

 

I took this timelapse video of a couple of cicada nymphs  molting and their wings expanding. One cicada starts molting then another climbs on top of it and also starts molting.

A newly molted Cicada

 

I took this photo of a newly molted cicada a couple of nights ago.  Last week they were only coming out some evenings, but this week it has been every night, and each night there are more and more of them.  They have only been emerging in the warmer areas, ground that is in shade for much of the day still hasn't released it's hordes.

The cicadas have arrived in Bethesda!

 I was walking around Bethesda, MD this morning and noticed the first advance troops of cicadas on the trees.  They weren't everywhere, some trees would have a dozen or so, others just a couple, but most trees didn't have any yet.  That will change in the coming days.

When they start coming out en-masse scenes such as this will be common.  Here you have a few cicadas still emerging from their exoskeleton and a couple who have just finished emerging but whose wings are still wrinkled up.

As they rest, their wings expand to full size. Notice they are very pale, it takes them a few hours to darken and for their bodies to harden.

They don't limit themselves to just the tree trunks, they climb out onto the small branches and leaves.  They'll be everywhere.

Coming soon! the 17 year cicadas

 

My favorite anachronistic insect is on its way.  The 17 year periodical cicadas should be out in force very soon.  Even as we speak, they are lurking just below the surface, biding their time.  For 17 years they have dwelt deep in the ground, feasting on sap from the roots of trees. Now, they are burrowing up to the surface, waiting for the time to be right.

The rain yesterday evening flooded these poor creatures out. I took these photos just after it ended and I expect they will crawl back down into their burrows when it dries out.

I'm amazed these creatures can survive in a dynamic suburban environment like Bethesda.  The last time they were here was in 2004, think about how much has changed since then.  How many new or enlarged houses, how many widened roads, how many trees cut down and new trees planted.