Nature's Miraculous Cicada is on its Way, Atlanta!

Nature's Miraculous Cicada is on its Way, Atlanta!

The summer of 1996 – Atlanta, Georgia was hosting the summer Olympics.  Little did most of us know what was going on in the insect world all around us, a miracle of nature occurring then, about to emerge upon us now.  Be prepared, be educated, and be ready to be amazed, for the Cicadas are about to make their appearance in a big way.

Many of us are already aware of or have some knowledge of these creatures.  We have grown up knowing they show up every now and then.  We have all found the exoskeletons shed by them, played with them, scared each other with them, but how much do we really know about their amazing life?  A lack of knowledge only breeds fear of the unknown, so be prepared to be educated so you can enjoy witnessing what is about to occur.  It will not occur again for 17 years...

Residents of the Atlanta area can expect to see signs of their emergence towards the end of May, usually when the soil temperature reaches at least 63 degrees.  The nymphs, who have been underground for 17 years, feeding off of roots, will begin to construct their exit tunnels to the surface of the ground.  You may see fingertip-sized holes sometimes covered with loose tubes of dirt.  If you keep watch each evening after sunset, you may catch their emergence from the holes to nearby vegetation where they will molt into adulthood.

Over the next four to six days, the white adults grow their dark exoskeleton and begin to take flight.  The males will swarm in massive clouds, some as dense as 1.5 million insects per acre, emitting an intense buzzing sound which can be as loud as 100 decibels.  This behavior is part of their mating ritual, to attract the females and reproduce, their only reason for existence.  In their short six weeks of life, they will mate, feed off of juices from twigs, the females will lay up to 20 eggs at a time within the twigs, up to 600 total, and then they die.  In six to ten weeks, the babies hatch, drop to the ground, and burrow deep into the earth to begin their 17-year absence, re-emerging in the year 2030. 

While some may find the swarms annoying, loud, and even alarming, they pose no danger to anyone or anything, unless you are a small tree who cannot handle the loss of juices they feed upon or the weight of the eggs they lay.  Otherwise, these harmless insects do not bite, sting, or carry diseases.  If caught, they struggle to fly away.  They have no interest in you unless you are a twig or another Cicada.  After all, they are doing nothing except enjoying the six weeks of life they are limited to by mating, reproducing, then falling to their final resting place, leaving the next generation to repeat the cycle.  So embrace this and enjoy being a part of witnessing such a unique miracle of nature.