Billions of cicadas could arrive late in cooler weather. Government researchers say they are taking their step with soil temperature reaching 64 degrees 8 inches below the ground.
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You do this every 17 years. They only live a few weeks to transform, send loud mating calls, and mate to create a new life cycle.
Brood X map for 2021, courtesy Gene Kritsky, Mount St. Joseph University
You are expected to be in parts of Michigan by the end of June.
The tracking of Brood X in 2004 shows Washtenaw County is the zero point for babies to come out. Cicadas have also been tracked in Oakland, Cass, St. Joe, and Lenawee Counties.
“If you don’t like noise. If you don’t like lustful insect behavior, avoid where those things will occur, ”says Bug Man Howard Russell, an entomologist at Michigan State University.
That’s true. This will be a multi-million dollar pairing of cicadas, which means, “The males fly away and form refrains and they sing. They try to convince women that they are worth the effort to stop by and visit. “This is a big party for you. This is the only party for her, ”said Russell.
Ross Hanna lives in Westland near Ground Zero and tells 7 Action News, “No, I’m not too worried about that. I think they will do their thing and dress their mate. “
Click here to listen-> Listen to the roar of the 2004 Brood X cicadas. Courtesy Duane Busick of Indiana.
After mating, the females lay eggs in branches that eventually fall to the ground for the next cycle. That shouldn’t be a big problem. Russell says, “The only real problems are newly planted or newly transplanted young trees.”
Speaking to us in Washtenaw County today, Samantha Donato said, “It will be one of the things you tell your kids about the next time they show up. It’ll probably be gross for a while. “
Too gross for some. In Cincinnati, Michelle Dillingham set up a Facebook page for fear of cicada. And a company called Under the Weather made a safe suit out of a mesh screen to create social distance to the bugs.
And if you do decide to go to war, Russell says, “If you are doing vengeance and mass murder on big noisy insects, you can do that. Even if you kill a hundred or a thousand of them in your yard, sooner or later there will be more anyway. “
Birds, squirrels, and other wildlife get fat when they eat them. Your dog or cat could too. You are safe. Some people might even try it!
