East Coast braces for bug onslaught
Cicadas due to hatch out after 17 years of waiting

James Appleby / Univ. of Illinois / AP
A female cicada lays eggs on a tree branch. Cicadas are starting to emerge for their weeks-long frenzy of molting, mating and egg laying.
By Sue Pleming

Updated: 2:32 p.m. ET March 31, 2004WASHINGTON - Planning a May wedding in the eastern United States? Take the party indoors to avoid billions of buzzing cicadas set to swarm the area after 17 years of living below ground.

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Called periodical cicadas, the thumb-sized insects emerge every 17 years and fly around in a noisy, mating frenzy before dying weeks later, littering the area with crunchy shells.

Mistakenly called locusts by early settlers, they are distinguished by their beady red eyes. What is most memorable is the deafening noise the males make with drumlike organs called timbals to attract more sedate females.

Many residents from northern Georgia to Washington dread the arrival of the dark, noisy swarms in mid-May, but entomologists are counting the days.

“We don’t look upon them as misery. In part, it’s a good verifier that humans have not ruined their environment entirely if they keep reappearing,” said Gary Hevel, an entomologist with the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum.

Enjoy the spectacle
His advice is to revel in the spectacle and listen to the chorus of male sounds, one of which sounds like the word ”Pharaoh.”

“Just enjoy them and realize there could be many worse things that could happen in terms of insects that come out in such numbers. These don’t bite, don’t sting. Don’t fear them at all, they will just be a minor pest.”

On the plus side, cicadas are good pruners for large trees but gardeners are urged to protect saplings with cheesecloth. They are also excellent fishing bait.

Three species are expected to emerge from the periodical cicadas and Hevel points out they make noises at different times, almost on a shift basis. Most are silent at night.

How do they count the years?
What amazes scientists is how cicadas know when the time is right to emerge from the soil, where they feed on tree roots for 17 years preparing for their synchronized arrival.

“We still don’t know exactly how they count the years. It could be calibrated using environmental cues,” said Chris Simon, professor in ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Connecticut.

Cicadas usually emerge at night when the soil temperature is about 64 degrees Fahrenheit (18 degrees Celsius) and climb onto nearby trees, fence posts or other upright items. Next they molt, mate and lay eggs.

Simon urged people to go out with flashlights and watch cicadas when they first emerge. They are a white color before their bodies darken and skins harden.

“You can hear them walking through the leaves, and if you shine a flashlight the trees will be full of white cicadas. It’s an incredible sight,” said Simon.

Milestones of life
Simon has studied periodical cicadas since 1974 and said they served as milestones in people’s lives.

“Often people take pictures of young children with them and then wait another 17 years and do it again.”

These periodical cicadas are called Brood X, named by an entomologist who worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture at the turn of the 19th century.

“I don’t recall there was such a flurry of attention to them in 1987 as there is this year. It may be in our society these days we just look for more of a diversion,” said Hevel.

North American Indians used to eat the protein-packed cicada. Simon says they are best when they are still white, but can also be fried or served with a variety of sauces.

Simon once ate them at a reception for scientists with a Sichuan sauce. Raw, they taste like a mixture of avocado and potato, she said.

“They were quite good, but I hated to eat them. It seemed a bit unfair to eat them after they spent 17 years underground.”