My daughter who is 17 has not only heard them before but seen them. I hear them almost every summer making that annoying crazy sound and three years ago one was being eaten by a bird on the sidewalk by my house and it was still buzzing. I have seen them and I don't know what eveyone is talking about.
2007-05-25 05:02:25 · 7 answers · asked by Niokie P 1 in Pets ➔ Birds
its a reference to their lifecycle... not the noise the adults make every summer.
some species of cicada have 17 year lifecycles - most of which is spent underground.
this DOESNT mean they are only around every 17 years - it means after spending that much time underground, they come out. you can see them every summer because of course, not every cicada is the same age.
so when people say they "come out" every 17 years - they do... the nymphs (cicada laevae) bury into the ground when they hatch - then YEARS later, they come out of the ground, attach themselves to a tree and shed their skin to turn into the beetle looking thing with wings to join all the other adult cicadas already in the trees.
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2007-05-25 05:10:50 · answer #1 · answered by raspberryswirrrl 6 · 6⤊ 0⤋
There is an excellent episode of Planet Earth about this. Cicadas are BORN once every 17 years in that particular region (I think it was deciduous forests). They don't hide away and then come back out again. Once every 17 years the offspring emerge from the ground and provide a feast for all the forest animals for about 3-4 days. By the end of the feast, the cicadas are all thinned out but some are still around to breed and create the next crop. However, there are different types of cicadas all over the world. I know in Arizona, where I grew up, Cicadas were always around in the summer, every year. So it varies. But that is your explanation about the 17 year thing :)
2007-05-25 12:23:50 · answer #2 · answered by squishie bug 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Different cicadas have different life spans. The ones we hear about in the news are 13 year and 17 year cicadas. This year Brood 13 is coming out. Every year a different group emerges, and that is why you have seen them before. But certain broods are bigger than normal, and Brood 13 is one of them. They know this because 17 years ago, when these cicada's mommies and daddies were out, there were bazillions of them too, so naturally there will be bazillions of cicadas now. Have fun, and buy some earplugs. You will seriously need them.
2007-05-26 10:55:02 · answer #3 · answered by spookyjimjams 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I think that there are many species of Cicadas. There are annual cicadas whose life span is 3-5 years and the periodical cicadas whose life span is 13-17 years. I believe that the periodical ones come out in large numbers and therefore get more attention.
2007-05-25 12:16:20 · answer #4 · answered by Bleaker 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There are several species of Cicadas that are around year after year. There is one in particular that comes out once every 17 years (although I thought it was 13), and this type comes out in rediculously large numbers - the largest amount of bugs to hatch in a season.
2007-05-25 12:08:04 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
There is one type that has a 17 year cycle and spend most of that time underground. However, there are many types that come out every year. When I was growing up we used to catch them all the time. It was considered something of a treasure to find one, especially a big one. They were all over but we had a hard time getting close enough to one to catch them.
2007-05-25 12:07:03 · answer #6 · answered by A.Mercer 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
You apparently haven't seen this batch yet. I was seventeen the first time I saw them. This is a different batch that comes out every 17 years. OMG IT SUCKS!!! They swarm everywhere. I remember my first time was right before I gradutated from High school and the were doing crazy things with them, Hitting them with tennis rackets some boys ate them on bets. Can't have your windows down
2007-05-25 12:23:32 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋