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Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:
Periodical cicadas emerge from underground in the spring of their 13th or 17th year. Fifteen US states are about to see a whole lot of them.
[...] Periodical cicadas, as they're known, spend almost their whole lives a foot or two underground, living on sap from tree roots. Then, in the spring of their 13th or 17th year, mature cicada nymphs emerge for a short adult stage, synchronously and in huge numbers. Really huge numbers.
"They may amass ... in parks, woods, neighborhoods and can seemingly be everywhere," Michigan State University entomologist Gary Parsons explained in an MSU question and answer session on the phenomenon last year. "When they are this abundant, they fly, land and crawl everywhere, including occasionally landing on humans."
[...] This spring, it'll be time for members of one of the largest broods of 17-year cicadas, known as Brood X, to burrow out from their subterranean hideouts and show off their black bodies and bold red eyes. Fifteen states will hear the romantic serenades of males in trees, trying to attract females: Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia, as well as in Washington, DC.
The return of the cicadas typically starts around mid-May and runs through late June and is, needless to say, a wild spectacle.
[...] The bugs are harmless, Parsons stresses, and typically don't come indoors, though they do gather on outside walls.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by aristarchus on Friday January 29 2021, @07:08AM (2 children)
But just think, while you are listening to those billions of cicadas, they are dwarfed by the number of stars in the universe. Billions of billions, in the Milky Way, and billions of galaxies of at least the size of our Galaxy? Boggles the cicadas, does it not?
Of course, seriously, that is a lot of bugs. Worse than the Microsoft latest release.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 29 2021, @07:53AM
FALSE!
The trillions of trillions of unknown Microsoft bugs dwarfs that of the billions of billions of known bugs in Windows 10, leaving the amount of cicadas bugs just a small fraction several hundred decimal points to the left. Nothing just one more fucking update can't fix, I'm sure.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday January 29 2021, @10:40PM
There's no call for that level of hyperbole. That many cicadas would mass more than the entire planet.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 29 2021, @07:29AM (4 children)
Biblical sounding.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by DannyB on Friday January 29 2021, @03:21PM (2 children)
See this... [wikipedia.org]
I think it is more interesting that these periodic cicadas chose the prime numbers 13 and 17 as the number of years they remain dormant.
OMG what happens every time the 13th and 17th year happens to coincide!?!?
If you eat an entire cake without cutting it, you technically only had one piece.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 31 2021, @12:22AM (1 child)
Every 221 years the two populations must compete with each other for food.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday February 02 2021, @05:45PM
Or have a rare strange mating ritual.
If you eat an entire cake without cutting it, you technically only had one piece.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday January 29 2021, @10:41PM
Sounds like lots of free fishing bait to me.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by canopic jug on Friday January 29 2021, @09:35AM (1 child)
Cicada pie is just one recipe of many [smithsonianmag.com] for cicadas. It's just that they're a heavy on mercury.
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 3, Funny) by DannyB on Friday January 29 2021, @03:24PM
Since Mercury's 3.7 m/s2 gravity is lower than Earth's 9.8 m/s2, it would therefore make the cicadas even heavier on Earth than they are on Mercury.
Am I right?
If you eat an entire cake without cutting it, you technically only had one piece.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 29 2021, @11:57AM (1 child)
As I'm in one of the potential areas of invasion, I'll finally get to walk outside while pretending to be in an anime show set during the summer.
(for those not in the know, the sounds of cicadas are used in anime to signal that it's summertime)
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 29 2021, @03:32PM
No one gives a shit about your bizarre anime fetish.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 29 2021, @01:04PM (1 child)
How can that be?
All natural phenomena like winter, rain, and normal animal population cycles are caused by global warming, according to the hive-minded, woke progressive 'She posted it on twitter so must be true' programmed leftist robots.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday January 29 2021, @03:30PM
She needs to get off her 17-year cycle and either get back on a monthly cycle, or an electric powered cycle.
If you eat an entire cake without cutting it, you technically only had one piece.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday January 29 2021, @05:12PM (1 child)
For those of you who like to eat bugs (you know who you are), apparently they taste good simmered in butter [popularmechanics.com]. Some call them "Shrimp of the Land [cheaperthandirt.com]."
Enjoy, but please don't be offended if the rest of us decline your dinner invitation.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 29 2021, @05:57PM
"Attention humans: Just eat the fucking bugs!" say the lizard people. "We do, and they taste great!"
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 29 2021, @05:23PM
That's because the vice-president is a female. God hates females.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 29 2021, @06:41PM (1 child)
These are the Cicadas of Doom who emerge from their underground lairs every 17 years. If they find that the earth is warmer, they return underground for another 17 years to give mankind another generation to wipe itself out. If they find the temperature hasn't risen then they kill and consume all mankind. So do your part to protect mankind and keep consuming fossil fuels.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 30 2021, @10:24AM
Definitely looking forward to showing them to the kids. Imagine next time this brood comes to the surface, my kids will be grown up.
(Score: 2) by PinkyGigglebrain on Friday January 29 2021, @09:44PM (2 children)
better stock up on sleepwear earplugs and/or soundproofing for your bedroom.
Cicadas are LOUD, at least 85-90db in general, much louder if they are close, and the don't stop at night.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday January 29 2021, @10:43PM
Bah, they're nowhere near as loud as my case fans.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 29 2021, @10:58PM
No need, they don't scream at night, and even if they did, just sleep through them the same as sleeping through a thunderstorm.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 30 2021, @02:14AM
https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/sparkys-sells-out-of-cicada-ice-cream/article_cb6ea410-06e7-5ba4-ab85-5d76ff7e344c.html [columbiamissourian.com]