Where we live, the steady, annoying hum of the cicada is finally dwindling to a low murmur, but for a few weeks it was so loud we couldn’t even hear our own music inside the house. Sure, they’re only here every thirteen years, and by the time they come again we’ve already forgotten that they existed in the first place; I told my five-year-old that by the time they come again, it will be a complete surprise for her, as surely she won’t remember them. But boy are they annoying.
Even as they slowly fade out, they still interrupt our lives quite a bit. From drowning out outdoor plays to hitting us stupidly in the back as if they’re bad drivers careening out of control in the air, they’re a bloody nuisance—and while I would normally advocate any insect’s right to live as much as we do, they are about as wonderful to have around as mosquitoes. Thankfully, we won’t have to deal with them for too long!
In fact, just in case you were wondering, here are a few facts about the cicadas—and just how long we’ll have to deal with them.
- Most of them have a lifespan of around six weeks, and they mate after they die; so once they’ve all mated we can expect them to leave us alone. Once they are gone, however, the annual cicadas will come out to play!
- Once they leave, we’ll also have their dead, red-eyed bodies all around us like a post-apocalyptic bug mess, and they are supposed to stink like it, too.
- Insecticides don’t work well on cicadas, so don’t bother to buy any just for them. (We even tried with some spray to verify this claim; it’s true! Some died but it sure didn’t change the magnitude of the sound.)
- Mesh netting and other preventative devices are pretty much a waste of time, too.
- Cicadas are not harmful to humans and generally do not bite. However, they can sometimes bite if they land on an arm or leg and mistake it for a tree—so be sure to shake them off if they do land on exposed skin.
- The name cicada comes from the Latin language and translates to “tree grasshopper.”
- That awful noise they make is their mating call—a sound that the males make to attract females, who actually think it quite nice.
- Once the mating is complete, the female cicada will lay her eggs in a tree. She can lay up to thousands of them.
- Once the eggs hatch, the cicada nymphs fall to the ground and burrow until they are ready to emerge, shed their skin, and mate as their parents did.
- Most species remain underground for only two to five years. Others can last longer—such as the ones plaguing us now, or even the 17-year cicada.
- They aren’t just sleeping underground; the nymphs actually dig a lot, and drink root juice to survive.