Late summer, for me, has always been about bumblebees, fireflies, and katydids. The heavy humid air just seems so full this time of year; full of buzzing, scratching, fluttering, squeaking. This year has seemed particularly loud though, not just at night when the katydids are singing to each other, but beginning early morning when I first arrive at Fairview Farm. A loud buzzing permeates the air and can be attributed to none other than the strange but beautiful Cicada! Large, flying, plant eating insects, Cicadas are related to Leafhoppers and live for years underground as juveniles, taking water and nutrients from tree roots. Annual Cicadas are around almost every year and spend only 2-8 years underground, but the larger broods of Periodical cicada populations live synchronized life cycles, emerging every 7-13 years. Entomologists have scheduled the next Periodical brood to emerge in 2013, but word is that the brood has emerged this summer, four years early! Cicadas aren’t hard to find (just follow your ears) but they are hard to approach without causing them to fly higher up in a tree or across the yard. The best time to find one is early morning, just when it has emerged from its discarded nymph exoskeleton and is drying off its wings. If you’re lucky enough to find one in this state, notice its huge bulging eyes and green, iridescent wings. Since these sightings are few and far between, you might just look for the discarded nymph shell, stuck to a tree trunk or wooden fence post. Probably the easiest way to observe a Cicada, however, is just by listening to the males’ mating calls, made with organs called timbals underneath their abdomens.
Cicadas are native to many parts of the word, found in Europe, Australia and Asia. Their loud presence definitely makes an impact wherever they are found, and many cultures have based folklore on Cicadas. Probably the most familiar story is one of Aesop’s fables called The Cicada and the Ant: in it the cicada spends the summer singing while the ant stores away food, and finds herself hungry when the weather turns cold. Before the weather does turn cold, step outside and listen. For whatever reason Cicadas have emerged early, I think they’ve added to the charm of this cold, rainy and loud summer of 2009!
Lauren Theis, Stewardship Program Manager
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