Chirping invaders
Tens of billions of noisy cicadas are set to pop out of the ground in the coming weeks in a rare synchronized event that last occurred in 1803. The cicadas are coming out of the ground across the Midwest and Southeast starting early May, in a double emergence of two different broods of periodical cicadas. These bugs spend a fixed number of years underground before coming to the surface to take part in a raucous mating ritual. This year’s emergence is expected to be unusually large, with some experts estimating that more than a trillion cicadas could blanket parts of the country where the two broods overlap. While Cicadas are harmless to humans, some people find the sheer number of insects and their loud mating songs a totally obnoxious and creepy.
For bug enthusiasts, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience the two cicada broods emerging together. “It’s something that no one alive today has ever seen and no one alive today will ever see again. This spring’s emergence will feature Brood XIII and Brood XIX cicadas. The former group lives on a 17-year cycle and typically appears in the Midwest, mostly in Illinois, though also in parts of Iowa, Wisconsin and Indiana. This year’s event is unusual because these particular broods are syncing up and also because they happen to be adjacent to one another, with a narrow area of geographical overlap in central Illinois. “There aren’t many places in the country where two very different broods overlap,” said Daniel Young, a professor of entomology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and director of the school’s insect research collection.
Thousands of cicada species can be found around the world, but periodical cicadas are distinct because they spend most of their lives underground, feeding on tree roots. After either 13 or 17 years, depending on the brood, the insects tunnel to the surface to begin a frenzied, monthlong search for a mate. “There’s just so many of them that the noise is almost deafening.” “It’s like 1,000 chainsaws going off and they’re all being used at the same time.” The insects have a few chaotic weeks to find a mate and lay their eggs before they die. After that, people will likely see a huge number of insect carcasses littering the ground. “They literally pave the sidewalks and streets — it’s just crazy,” the professor said. “Some people get kind of freaked out by it.”
Don’t bug me
A fly feels a bug on its back!
“Hey, bug on my back, are you a mite?” it asks.
“I mite be,” giggles the mite.
“That’s the worst pun I’ve ever heard,” groans the fly.
“What do you expect?” says the mite. “I came up with it on the fly.”
”Waiter! What is that bug doing in my salad?”
”Trying to find a way out, sir.”
Did you hear about the lightening bug that ran into the bug zapper?
He was delighted.
What kind of bug do you find on a long car ride?
An I-shoulda-pede.
June 3rd Birthdays
1995 – Anne Winters, 1990 – Imogen Poots, 1989 – Katie Hoff, 1988 – Michelle Keegan
1925 – Tony Curtis, 1987 – Rafael Nadal, 1994 – Sean Berdy, 1986 – Al Horford