Grandma Bonnie says we never shared our pictures of a cicada hatch in progress. These are from August of '08, but I am pretty sure the process hasn't changed at all so it is okay to post them now. I thought we had a video but I can't find it. Now, before you see these, I should say that these are some of the ugliest bugs I have seen up close and personal. That said, their actual hatching is pretty amazing.
So, they have very sharp claws. Not that hurt when you touch them but they attach to anything. It can even be hard to get them off your finger sometimes without ripping their arm off. Oops. Anyway, they attach themselves to a tree. (Usually. We have seen them on car tires also.)
They make this perfect little slit down their back -the exact, same size every. single. time. And you can trust me because I have seen a lot of them. A lot. Then, the adults pop out. Perpendicularly. Amazing. And they just hang there while their wings dry out.
Then they climb the rest of the way out.
And when their wings are ready, off they go. 
To buzz in the trees. So loud at times that it is difficult to have conversations outside. It's kind of crazy, really. And there you have it. I bet this whole process takes less than 5 minutes. Next summer, we will try to catch them crawling up out of the ground. Eeeewww... Am I right?
Okay. That is all on locusts. I promise. Well, until Halloween, of course. And those of you complaining that your little girl wants to be a princess AGAIN, remember, it could be worse. She could want to be a cicada.
2 comments:
Amazing! Can't believe Abby will touch them tho'....after hearing how loudly she can scream when she sees a "normal" bug.
OK. I've been wondering...does the host cicada die when the new one comes out? If you don't know, send Noah off to the library for a book to check it out for me. Thanks.
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