Image courtesy of Wikipedia
Cicadas are fascinating little creatures, and not well understood. Yet they have a lot of meanings and symbolize immortality, rebirth, love, and good luck. You can even eat them, like in East Africa, where cicadas are considered a delicacy.
Since we will all see them in the coming weeks, whether in the garden or underfoot, here are some FAQs about cicadas and the 17-year cycle in the Northern Virginia area:
- Cicadas can’t chew so they don’t devour our plants and trees. They suck sap, but generally not enough to do any long-term damage to mature vegetation.
- A single generation of cicadas can reach a density of 1.5 million cicadas an acre in some areas.
- The adults live above ground for four to six weeks focused solely on mating and laying eggs (that won't hatch for 17 years!).
- The sound you hear when the cicadas emerge is the mating cry sung by males, as they try to find females.
- Cicadas begin to emerge when the soil 8" beneath the ground reaches 64 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cicadas are not really related to the locusts that we tend to compare them to. They are more closely related to leafhoppers and spittlebugs.
- Twelve of the 15 known cicada broods emerge from the ground after 17 years. The other three emerge after 13 years. The two types will only emerge together once every 221 years.
Sources:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/its-prime-time-for-cicadas-natures-numerical-nerds-1462535749
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/04/15/billions-of-cicadas-will-descend-upon-the-northeastern-united-states-as-another-17-year-cycle-conclude/?hpid=hp_no-name_morning-mix-story-h%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
http://www.insidenova.com/news/local/northernva/fascinating-facts-about-cicadas/article_f9a8fda6-bdda-11e2-96d8-001a4bcf887a.html
http://www.gardensalive.com/product/the-cicadas-are-coming-the-cicadas-are-coming/you_bet_your_garden
