You may not have noticed but something very significant happened this year. Brood X of the Cicada Nymphs hatched in the midwest this year. If you were in Ohio, Indiana and surrounding states you may have witnessed this event. The bug, commonly confused with locusts, is a little nymph that digs deep in the mud down by tree roots. They then lay dormant for a clock cycle of 17 years, exactly. Never fails. There are some species with shorter durations but this specific kind follows the same cycle. It is a form of adaptation. Why predator can wait 17 years to feast again? When they hatch it is crazy. As the bug matures it crawls out of the mud, sheds its outer body formed for that long duration and takes flight. It nests in the trees and lays eggs in the branches. The little nymphs’ hatch, fall from the trees and start digging. They go down as low as 8 feet and feed on tree sap until they next 17 years cycle.
So in 2038, these little guys will surface once again. I will probably still be alive. What will I do with my life, time while I am on the surface here? These bugs will be spending all their time eating and getting bigger and ready for their big show that summer of 2038. You will hear them. There is no mistaking the chorus of hundreds of millions of male cicada banging their cymbal like wings. It is quite the racket.
Wonder what noise I will be making that summer?
Guy Reams
