I’ve told myself that I’m not gonna get caught up in all this cicada hype. The news is making it seem like it’s the end of the world. People are all worried about it eating their skin, ruining their landscaping and causing all kinds of problems. Then there’s the poor cicada expert from the College of Mount St. Josephs, Gene “Dr. Cicada” Kritsky, who’s only famous every 17 years…

Well, I wanna try to put to rest some of this hype and instead pass on some interesting information about why it’s why the cicadas emerge every 17 yrs, areas that will be affect, etc.

First, let’s address the hype and myths

–Cicadas do not sting or bite humans
–Cicadas do not carry diseases
–This area isn’t the only area affected, but neither is the whole US/World affected
–Only new trees should be affected by the cicadas. Older trees and normal landscaping will be fine

Now, here are some facts and interesting tidbits about these insects.
–The mature, emerge, mate, lay eggs if female, and then die
–Cicadas will be around approx 4-6 weeks
–Only the male cicadas sing
–This years batch of cicadas is called Brood X, and will be the largest to date. The last batch in 1987 was Brood IX, previous was VIII, etc.
–They are on a 17 year cycle because it’s a prime number, allowing them to avoid the 2-3 year peaks of predators that feed off of them. However, some cicadas “count” the years wrong and emerge early, usually 4 years early. This results in a cycle of 13 years, also a prime number.
–Cicadas taste like cold canned asparagus and are a good balance of vitamins, are low in fat, and the females are especially high in protein. They are also Atkins friendly!

If you’re interesting the areas that will be affected by Brood X, check out the following links:
http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu
http://www.msj.edu/cicada/images/broodx.jpg

If you’re interested in more information, check out the following articles:
http://www.msj.edu/cicada/index.html
http://www.economist.com/science/PrinterFriendly.cfm?Story_ID=2647052
http://www.cincypost.com/2004/05/11/cic051104.html