Midwest Braces for Swarms of Cicadas
Pastor Dale Morgan
May 20, 2:14 PM EDT
*Midwest Braces for Swarms of Cicadas*
By TARA BURGHART
Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO (AP) -- Coming soon: Brood XIII. It sounds like a bad horror
movie. But it's actually the name of the plague of billions of cicadas
expected to emerge this month in parts of the Midwest after spending 17
years underground.
The red-eyed, shrimp-sized, flying insects don't bite or sting. But they
are known for mating calls that produce a din that can overpower ringing
telephones, lawn mowers and power tools.
Brood XIII is expected across northern Illinois, and in parts of Iowa,
Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana. Cicadas live only about 30 days as
adults, and their main goal is mating.
They don't harm humans, although they are clumsy and might fly into
people. Birds, squirrels and pets, especially dogs, love to eat them,
and they are high in protein.
"They're going to have quite a meal. It's going to be like Thanksgiving
for them," said Tom Tiddens, supervisor for plant health care at the
Chicago Botanic Garden.
They are periodical cicadas, which are only found in the eastern half of
North America. The annual, or dog-day cicadas, that appear every summer
are common around the world.
The last massive emergence of periodical cicadas was in 2004, when Brood
X emerged after 17 years underground in parts of 15 Eastern states. Some
broods emerge after 13 years.
As nymphs burrowing underground, cicadas suck sap from tree roots.
Almost all members of a group, or brood, burst from the ground within a
couple days of each other.
They quickly climb the nearest vertical surface to molt and unroll their
wings. In some heavily wooded areas, as many as 1.5 million cicadas per
acre will crowd onto trees, expert say.
"It's one of the greatest insect emergences on Earth," said Daniel
Summers, an entomologist at The Field Museum.
A single male's shrill courtship call can reach 90 decibels, equivalent
to a kitchen blender. That could sour plans for outdoor events over the
next few weeks.
Ravinia Festival, a 103-year-old music festival held north of Chicago,
revised its schedule to avoid classical musicians having to compete with
the insects, said festival president and CEO Welz Kauffman.
June will see more pop bands outdoors, a few concerts moved indoors and
a visit from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. "With 350 voices on stage,
they can hold their own against the bugs," Kauffman said.
At the Chicago Botanic Garden, spokeswoman Gloria Ciaccio joked that her
advice for brides holding outdoor weddings there will be to put the tent
flaps down and turn the music up.
An Illinois company that provides ice sculptures has turned down several
outdoor parties over the next month. That's because of what happened
when Nadeau Ice Sculptures owner Jim Nadeau delivered a swan statue to a
wedding in 1990, during the area's last emergence of the periodical cicadas.
"We put our tray down and immediately the cicadas came off the ground
and attacked the ice. Literally, it was a moving sculpture, this big
black ugly mass of cicadas constantly moving," said Nadeau.
"I don't want to talk myself out of work, but that was just too gross,"
he said.
Exactly when the cicadas will emerge is a subject of debate, although
there is agreement they emerge once the soil temperature is consistently
64 to 65 degrees for several days. Biologists and insect experts predict
the cicadas will emerge between Tuesday and June 1.
The best place to see - and hear - the cicadas will be forest preserves,
golf courses and any land where there are older trees where the soil has
been undisturbed since 1990.
Freelance writer David Hammond runs the LTHForum, a Chicago-based
Internet site devoted to culinary matters, and his "foodie" friends want
to see what the cicadas taste like.
The insects are eaten in other parts of the world, with descriptions of
the taste ranging from shrimp to canned asparagus to not much at all.
No recipe has been decided upon yet, but Hammond assumes they will be
fried and perhaps accompanied by a dip or salsa.
"Honestly, they'll probably go down easier that way," he said. "Who
knows? Maybe we'll love it. We may have to travel around the country as
infestations occur."
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On the Net:
Lake County Forest Preserve: http://www.lcfpd.org/html-lc/cicadas/index.html
Chicago Botanic Garden: http://www.chicagobotanic.org
Field Museum: http://www.fieldmuseum.org/