GearBits

Cincinnati, Cicada Central's Creepy Candids

OK, this is nothing related to technology (but I may yet discover a connection), but these are some wicked photos of the cicada invasion happening in Cincinnati right now.

This first picture is the base of a neighbor's tree. Those hundreds/thousands of little brown things that look like peanuts are actually the skins shed by the cicada larvae when they molt. Remember, this is just one tree...

This next photo is a close-up of the trunk of the tree. It gives you an idea of the density of the cicadas that have emerged in just the past 24 hours. After a day or so of hanging onto the tree and drying out, the newly molted adults fly (clumsily, I might add) to some nearby bush/shrub/car antenna/screen door/etc. to chirp.

This last photo is a macro showing the four stages of these critters' emergence.
(1) is how they look when they emerge from their burrows in the ground and climb up some nearby plant or telephone pole or whatever to molt.
(2) shows the cicada in mid-molt -- note how the back splits and the ghostly white new adult emerges.
(3) is the newly emerged adult. The fake black eye-spots are only temporary, since they are extremely vulnerable to predators during this short period before they're able to fly (those little stubs will unfurl and harden into transparent wings).
(4) shows a fully transformed adult. At about 1-1.5 inches long and pretty thick, they are substantial bugs. When they fly into you (or your windshield), it's quite noticeable.

Estimates are that roughly 5 billion cicadas will emerge during May here in Cincinnati. Their sheer volume tends to make a mess of sidewalks under large trees. In a few days, their calls will reach max volume -- supposedly a whopping 90 decibels can be produced by a single adult male. Thankfully, this Brood X invasion only happens here once every 17 years.