Sunday, May 08, 2011

13 Year Cicada Now Flying!

 Meg and I visited the 17th Annual Art in the Garden Sculpture Invitational today and everywhere you looked the 13 year cicadas were perching or flying about. Been hearing about them for a week or so, but rarely run into them. Then again the last time they were here it was May of 1998.

I recall when I was a kid the 17 year cicada in Ohio. Things always seem bigger when you were a kid, but I recall seeing them everywhere in huge numbers. We'd swing a 5 gallon bucket into a swarm of them and catch hundreds of them.
Hope Mothers Day was delightful for all of the mothers out there.

11 comments:

Beth at PlantPostings said...

Amazing captures of the cicadas! They are so bizarre-looking, but beautiful in their own special way--especially with the plants showing through their translucent wings.

Bangchik and Kakdah said...

cicadas, you captured them well.., detailed and awesome. It's riang-riang in our language. And when they decide to sing, they are the loudest!

Karen said...

Excellent pictures of the cicadas. I've never seen one up close before. They are very loud, which should make them easier to spot, so now that I know what I'm looking for it should be easier. Thank you for the Mother's Day wishes, too!

tangledbranches said...

I heard a cicada yesterday afternoon in central Virginia, but assumed it was just a random straggler. But I noticed a few reports from Virginia on magicicada.org so I'll keep my eyes and ears open for Brood XIX.

The 17-year cicadas were absolutely deafeningly loud in northern Virginia in 2004. Huge numbers of them.

Larry said...

We don't have these but there is a lake fly season most years in the neighboring towns on our local large lake... they can create quite a mess for a few days and are present in amazing numbers... L

Curbstone Valley Farm said...

I don't think we have Cicadas here, or at least I've never seen one in person. They are quite intriguing looking creatures though. Their red eyes are quite remarkable!

Janet, The Queen of Seaford said...

Was talking to the ladies over at Park Seed on Saturday. One of their friends was taking the wings of dead cicadas and putting some acrylic coating on them and making earrings out of them.
The noise is getting worse -- will be glad when they are done.

Ginger said...

I heard about these on NPR. How fascinating! Great photos as always.

Skeeter said...

This is my first year of dealing with this Cicada. They are a beautiful bug with those red eyes but the singing in the woods is so annoying. I cannot wait for them to stop singing, A constant ringing in the ears with these critters around...

Who could trash that Tin Man? Lucky you to be there to save his little metal soul….

F Cameron said...

Our cicada neighbors are really loud right now! I'm surprised that it doesn't look like our woods are moving!

Anonymous said...

Really nice shots of the cicadas, Randy!