We have these guys all over Jersey. I grew up on Locust Drive and its name was very fitting. At night, they were so loud it was tough to sleep
Unfortunately for a lot of them, after the 17 years it takes to mature, they find themselves trapped underground by a new parking lot or road, never to see the light of day. :(
my brother and I used to wear their shells/shed skins when we were kids. We'd find them on the trees and shrubs and wherever and put them on our pants and jackets alternatively like jewlery or pretend we were getting attacked.
I've always liked them. Except when they get trapped between my screen and window and slam around buzzing.
Victorya! I'm glad i'm not the only one. I haven't seen cicadas since I was a kid... I guess California doesn't get them :(
March 13, 2009
As a human, I'm pretty satisfied with my life cycle. I don't have a larval stage where I live like a troll underground for years. I don't have to metamorphose into anything and wait out that awkward soft-shelled time before my exoskeleton hardens properly. I don't have an adult form that lasts for only a few short weeks, just long enough for me to mate and then die (I would be a miserable failure at that part). I have a lot to be grateful for. And I'm grateful that I'm not a cicada.
[Image]Here are a few photos from Russel Slutz. First we'll see a cicada just having clambered out of the ground and getting ready to shed its larval skin. Then you'll see the cicada shed said skin and emerge as a freakish enormous fly. In hindsight, puberty wasn't so bad.
[Image]
posted by Raging Wombat at 5:44 AM on Mar 12, 2009
4 Comments
Close this window Jump to comment formCicadas are cute, though!
March 13, 2009
We have these guys all over Jersey. I grew up on Locust Drive and its name was very fitting. At night, they were so loud it was tough to sleep
Unfortunately for a lot of them, after the 17 years it takes to mature, they find themselves trapped underground by a new parking lot or road, never to see the light of day. :(
March 13, 2009
my brother and I used to wear their shells/shed skins when we were kids. We'd find them on the trees and shrubs and wherever and put them on our pants and jackets alternatively like jewlery or pretend we were getting attacked.
I've always liked them. Except when they get trapped between my screen and window and slam around buzzing.
March 13, 2009
Victorya! I'm glad i'm not the only one. I haven't seen cicadas since I was a kid... I guess California doesn't get them :(
March 13, 2009