Cicadas
 

Has anybody seen them yet?
Here in Central NJ they have not arrived yet

melissa

They are already there, and have been for 17 years.

I am outside D.C., in Springfield, VA. The low droan started about a week ago- an undercurrent. Now it is getting much louder, a constant low pitched whirring sound that you can not miss as soon as you open the door. Exoskeletons are everywhere on the ground; people are talking about crunching them as they walk on the sidewalks a half mile from me. They are actually not so bad in my immediate area, as all the homes around me for a few streets are new construction in the last few years. I guess they got dug up during construction (how deep do they go in the ground for those 17 yrs.?) or my house and driveway and street are on top of all the ones that were underground. They are much more prevelant a mile away. My kids are loving it- they are cicada hunting every day and have contests w/the other kids to see who can collect the most exoskeletons in a one day period. This is our first experience w/them. It is kind of bizzare. While I a bit tired of my 13 yr old son's antics (putting skeletons on my computer keyboard to gross me out, etc.) they are essentially harmless. I'd much rather have them here than the japanese beetles that are coming next month to eat all my roses.

There is a cute and informative article in the NYTimes this week about the cicadas. You can do a search and come up with it--by an entomologist who lives safely in Wyoming.

What part of the country are they indigenous to?

We were living in Maryland when the last batch hatched 17 years ago--what an experience. I had a t-shirt that read, "Cicadas, 1987 Summer Tour" :-D

Nevermind, I answered my own question.

For a list of infected counties go
here----->

http://www.airsolutioncompany.com/cicada-table-a.asp

Correction- they are loud enough to day to hear INSIDE the house, w/all doors and windows closed.

As emd just said - the drone is SOOOO LOUD you stay indoors. It sounds like millions of grasshoppers here in Annapolis MD and it's much worse in the morning.

There seems to be two different types of skeletons on just a light brown and slightly smaller shell than the other which is dark brown and has the red eyes. Both types of shells are on the drive; on the wooden fence; on the pool (not as many tho); pretty much everywhere. I hope it ends soon.

To the NJ poster--just read they will be more prevalent in Mercer and Cumberland counties.

There are hundrds of species of the cicadas. Ours like in Provence(cigales) usually start their singing in late July August but we won't get the 17 yr cicada here in New England

Well here in Louisville KY by our park system with huge trees, they are so loud that you cannot hear outside. They are loud on the inside and it's freaking the kitties! They get in your hair, too, which is bad cause I have 2 girls and you can add in the scream factor. The yards are fully "aerated" as well. One got in my Dad's newspaper wrap and started buzzing which almost gave him a heart attack!

We don't have them but y'all have freaked me out.

I came off the beach today and was in my outside shower and this bug tried to fly in. I was screaming my lungs out trying to hose it down with the showerhead. All I could picture in my mind was a big swarm of cicadas coming at me.

It was a bee.

Don't worry, cicads do not bite:)

When I was a teenager (must have been 2 17-year cycles ago) in northern New Jersey there were a few in our immediate locale, but I remember taking a trip to Alpine Boat Basin off Rte 9W along Hudson River just to see these critters - I remember the sound and constant crunch under foot. It was so creepy that I remember it as if it were yesterday and not 34 years ago. Guess we don't get to experience them in New England.

Cicada alert: Things have changed big time here in the D.C./Northern VA area today. They are out in full force now. I have the remains of them all over my car and windshiled for the first time today. They are flying all over the place; when you stop at the stoplights they are just buzzing by and flying from tree to tree. There is a LOUD droaning undercurrent and then this non-stop irritating chirping noise. I am glad i am getting out of town for Memorial Day weekend. This is very strange, very plague-like. No way I am going out for my usual 4 mile walk this evening, they would be bumping into me like crazy.
How long do they stay out like this? I've had enough, I'm ready for them to back in the ground now.

Sorry, they don't go back in the ground. This is it for them -- they're going to mate, lay the eggs for the Generation X of 2021, and then die. So, soon there will be dead cicadas everywhere.

Okay, this has been "bugging" me for some time now. I grew up in Nebraska and when I was a little girl I remember hearing something similar but don't know if it's the same thing. What I remember were "locusts" that were also very loud. I mostly remember them in the evening/night. Are these the same or even related? I'm in Colorado now, am sure they're not here! Thanks!

Yes, these are the creatures formerly known as "seventeen-year locusts". The name change must be some entomological PC thing.

Thanks Anon. Another difference however is the "locusts" in Nebraska seemed to be present every summer, not every 17 years. Do they just like Nebraska.....I guess somebody should. Thanks again!