The Million Cicada March

They come digging and clawing slowly as they make their way to the surface of the earth. They leave behind a dark and dreary hole in the ground that has been their home for a few months up to many years.

They climb up the cedar tree reaching for a branch where they can leave behind their useless shell and crawl out to become a flying machine in the southern summer sky.

The cedar tree provides a good footing for their prickly insect feet. It is a perfect foil under which many cicada eggs of all types were laid.



Some are able to crawl out of their shells by splitting the back and forcing the shell apart. Some tire before the task is done. All that is left behind are the shells of what used to be and holes in the ground; evidence of the deed....


in the garden....


This Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana) was literally covered with cicada shells. The ground underneath was crunchy with all of the shells. Skeeter had it right when she said there were lots of cicadas this year. I have never seen so many in one spot in my garden. It really makes me wonder what goes on under the soil and makes me appreciate the cedar trees even more for the wildlife benefit they provide to the garden.

For an EXCELLENT series of photos showing a cicada emerging from its shell please see this link.  It is a perfect series of photos showing the whole process.

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Periodical Cicada

By SKEETERCoco Lavender is in full bloom in my Georgia Garden and giving me a nice show. Bee's love this plant and so do I with it's interesting bloom. Purple is my favorite color so I am always happy to see the arrival of my Lavender. Here is something we normally do not see until later in the year. With a warmer then normal spring, the skeletons are showing up sooner this year. These little skeletal remains are everywhere! I found all of these within a few feet of our sun-room windows. Yikes, there are lots of them this year... The woods are filled with sounds of this insect singing their heads off as I have never heard before. I found 12 of them on the East side of the house Sunday morning. I was reminded of the movie "The Birds" as I had thoughts of these things taking over! I believe they were drying out their wet wings. As I was snapping a picture of this one, I felt something on my leg. I looked down to see one of these things crawling up my leg! Yikes... I believe we are not dealing with just any Cicada this year. I believe we are seeing one of 1500 species of Cicada that shows up every 13-17 years.

Click on the video and listen for the songs in the background. You may only hear birds but if you listen beyond them, you may here our Cicada's sounds. I suspect this is the PERIODICAL CICADA, In the Garden...

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Cicadas

Cicadas are a southern summer mainstay. What would the hot sultry nights be without the constant and loud humming and 'screaming' of the cicadas? I just couldn't imagine it. The noise is actually a mating call. Why are we not surprised?

My mother came from Maine during a hot sultry summer. She and my stepfather (Papa) were quite amazed at the loud insects. I don't know much about cicadas but do know the noise they make. I have found there are over 2500 species of cicadas through research. Some are cyclical, but there are also yearly cicadas. As annoying as cicadas can be, I must say they are purely harmless and animals love to eat the big meaty bugs. In some parts of the world people even eat them.

I thought it would be fun to showcase them a bit. The above picture is of a hole in the ground. I put my finger next to it for scale. The hole is quite huge. They are numerous in my lawn. The nymph cicadas actually crawl out of these holes, then up a nearby tree, deck, or just plain old board laying around the yard, and then it molts. The resulting insect is what you see in the last two pictures, but this next picture is what I find all over my yard. It is the shell the insect leaves when it matures. Ugly huh?

I think it's kind of cool. In high school in North Carolina I had an astute art teacher. She had collected a bag of these shells and handed them out to all of the students in her class. Our task was to draw it. I took a great deal of pleasure in drawing my little shell true to life in pencil. I've always been a bit of a realist in art.

Here are the adults. My cat Orkin jumps on them whenever she sees them. As was the case with the cicada in the grass. The one pictured above came to Mr. Fix-it's car and clung to the tire until it died. I am not sure why but many of these insects are choosing to die near or on this car in our driveway. They take a few days to die. The insects can be about 3 inches long. They make quite a show.

Sometimes you can spot these huge bugs flying through the sky. They can be mistaken for hummingbirds except you will hear the characteristic loud rattle as they fly past. No mistaking that racket for a hummingbird! Mom, what do you think of our southern bug?

P.S. I have finally heard the chorus of our summer bugs just last night, hence the posting today. All photos were snapped LAST summer. I've not spotted any cicadas yet this summer. This summer has been a bit unusual in that last night was not one of those 'hot and sultry' nights we usually have in July-yahoo! No, it was a lovely night to open the windows to hear the cicadas sing.

in the garden....