Brood X Cicadas

[Alan]

Several weeks ago the cicadas burrowed out of their underground homes after their 17 year hiatus and. they. are. everywhere! My trees and house are covered with their exoskeletons and I can't spend more than a few minutes outside without having several dozen attempt to take up residence on my person. As I sit inside and look out the window I consistently see hundred of the little red eyed devils flying back and forth as if it's rush hour and they have places to go.

I think it's cool the way they instinctively know when to emerge and I'm still trying to figure out how they can create such perfectly round exit holes in the ground without leaving any trace of dirt around them, but I've seen thousands of them so far and they're all identical and perfect so there must be a technique I just can't imagine.

There's been talk of people eating them and I've seen recipes on social media along with a warning that people shouldn't eat them if they're allergic to seafood. I think I'll pass on that delicacy just on principle! Our dog though, I think she may have already eaten her weight in cicadas and seems to enjoy them. With her being a lazy dog the cicadas even make it easy for her. They fly into the outside wall of the house, bounce off and almost always land on their back. Dottie just walks over to them, eats them and then moves on to the next one. Lounging on the deck and pigging out has become her favorite past-time.

Anyone else being over-run with these pests from hell?

[Yppej]

I wonder if this is the nasty brown glob that hit my windshield while I was driving today and took forever to clean off.

[catherine]

One of my Baltimore colleagues posted a video on Facebook describing both the sound of them (from near and far) and showing the piles and piles of exoskeletons in his yard. We're missing it this year in VT, thank God. At least they're only around for a couple of weeks!

[dado potato]

I am fascinated by the cicada wasp.

The wasp paralyzes a cicada with a sting. When the stung cicada drops from its perch in a tree, the cicada wasp carries the cicada to a hole it dug (2 legs for clasping the cicada, four legs for walking overland). After hauling the cicada into the hole in the ground, the wasp deposits one egg on the cicada and departs. The wasp larva hatches from the egg and dines on the motionless cicada.

[Teacher Terry]

They sound nasty but we don’t have very many bugs here.

[iris lilies]

We dont have the invasion yet. I wonder if we will get it? It sounds awful.

[happystuff]

They are in the surrounding area, but not in the back of the property like they have been in the past. At least, so far!

[nswef]

Piedmont Maryland here. Not any hatched in the yard although the holes are there, but maybe the wasp holes as they are aabout 2 inches in diameter. The flicker gobbles after digging in the holes with its bill, so I'm hoping we don't get them. Drove up to Gettysburg, PA yesterday and the wooded areas on the highways were alive with the sounds. Fields weren't noisy. Sister in McLean, VA sent a sound video of them, but no photos of piles, so I don't know if that is coming. They are usually about 2-3 weeks ahead of us with blooming, so they may be on their way here!

[razz]

Dado's post triggered my curiosity so checked further. They are really big wasps.
https://www.si.edu/spotlight/buginfo/cicada-killer-wasps