Researcher Says Cicadas Will Emerge May 22nd

[Mike Clifford]

Start tying those flies, Bassbuggers- they are coming.

 

 

Researcher Says Cicadas Will Emerge May 22nd

 

CHICAGO -- According to one insect researcher, Tuesday, May 22nd will probably be the big day for 17-year cicadas in the Chicago area.

 

Cincinnati entomologist Gene Kritsky says a formula he has worked out involving soil temperature shows the majority of the cicadas will be emerging on the evening of May 21st and the early morning hours of the 22nd.

 

Those particular cicadas spend about 17 years underground, feeding on tree roots. A few weeks before emerging, the nymphs construct exit tunnels to the surface. Authorities at the Morton Arboretum say they have already noticed dirt from those tunnels in areas around Chicago.

 

At the height of the cicada infestation the noise level of their mating calls in some residential neighborhoods is expected to be higher than that of the jet engines in some Chicago suburbs surrounding O'Hare International Airport.

 

From the Sun-Times:

"Don't call us locusts," the lippy little bug told our reporter Bob Herguth. "We're not. Locusts got a big play in the Bible with their plagues. We're a kinder, gentler species."

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[Steve S.]

A coworker that lives in Homewood claims to have dug more than a few up while doing some gardening. I asked him to bring one in for ID.

 

We'll see!

[John Loebach]

While mowing lawn in Lombard this weekend I noticed clumps of topsoil in areas under trees that looked like the soil deposited by crawfish burrowing. I didn't know cicadas pre bore emergence holes.

[Kevin Dells]

I have already found cicada carcasses in my yard but no noise yet