After being underground for 13 years, the cicada's were out in full swing this weekend! The boys weren't even born the last time this particular species emerged! As our resident professor, Russ had read up on them and gave us a full lesson on their life cycle.
Apparently, they come out of the ground every 13 years and mate. The sound that you hear is the male mating call (sidenote: after he mates, he dies...kind of a raw deal). The female lays eggs on tree branches/leaves. When the eggs hatch, they fall down and proceed to burrow into the ground. They spend the next 13 years sucking on tree roots and growing...only to emerge, mate and die. I've wanted to be alot of things in my life, but I don't think a cicada will ever be on the list! Seriously? Sucking on a root for 13 years?
I think their tragic story made them all the more fascinating to the boys. Some of the "sicker" ones were slow enough for us to catch and photograph. I love the one of Alex laughing! It's hard to believe that the boys will be 24 and 21 the next time these red-eyed wonders make an appearance...that thought might be depressing enough to make me go find a root!
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