# 17-year cicadas to swarm from Georgia to New York **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 10, 2013, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-year-cicadas-to-swarm-from-georgia-to-new-york/657961 "2013-05-10T04:33:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-year-cicadas-to-swarm-from-georgia-to-new-york/657961/1 "2013-05-10T04:33:21Z")
"Colossal numbers of cicadas, unhurriedly growing underground since 1996, are about to emerge along much of the U.S. East Coast to begin passionately singing and mating as their remarkable life cycle restarts. This year heralds the springtime emergence of billions of so-called 17-year periodical cicadas, with their distinctive black bodies, buggy red eyes, and orange-veined wings, along a roughly 900-mile stretch from northern Georgia to upstate New York." [http://www.dairyherd.com/dairy-news/latest/Theyre-back-17-year-cicadas-to-swarm-from-Georgia-to-New-York-206320561.html](http://www.dairyherd.com/dairy-news/latest/Theyre-back-17-year-cicadas-to-swarm-from-Georgia-to-New-York-206320561.html) ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-year-cicadas-to-swarm-from-georgia-to-new-york/657961/2 "2013-05-10T05:26:20Z")
Is it possible we can keep word of George W Bush a secret and let them think we went straight from Clinton to Obama? ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-year-cicadas-to-swarm-from-georgia-to-new-york/657961/3 "2013-05-10T07:21:09Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Is it possible we can keep word of George W Bush a secret and let them think we went straight from Clinton to Obama? Sorry, no. They’ve already heard about [9-11.](http://www.theonion.com/articles/17year-cicadas-horrified-to-learn-about-911,32341/) ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-year-cicadas-to-swarm-from-georgia-to-new-york/657961/4 "2013-05-10T10:50:39Z")
I live in Ohio and we experienced our “perfect storm” of cicada swarms a few years ago, so I can relate to those on the East Coast. If you’re interested, NPR had a cicada expert talking about it: > **[17-Year Cicadas Primed To Emerge](https://www.npr.org/2013/05/03/180824402/17-year-cicadas-primed-to-emerge)** > > This spring the massive "Brood II" batch of 17-year cicadas is expected to emerge from the ground in backyards and parks all along the Eastern U.S. The insects will mate, lay eggs, and start the cycle all over again. Cicada expert John Cooley... ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-year-cicadas-to-swarm-from-georgia-to-new-york/657961/5 "2013-05-10T12:30:10Z")
I can recall getting hammered with the things in 1987 when Brood X emerged in DC/MD/VA. It was a blast. Here in the South Carolina low country we’re pretty much out of reach of the things. Too bad. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-year-cicadas-to-swarm-from-georgia-to-new-york/657961/6 "2013-05-10T13:42:07Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > I can recall getting hammered with the things in 1987 when Brood X emerged in DC/MD/VA. It was a blast. Was a few years ago that we had them around Chicago, but I recall the novelty wearing off quite quickly. Where I lived, it varied widely from block to block how heavy they were, reflecting the number and age of trees. The prior batch was fun, as my kids were young. It was a neat learning/teaching experience, and they weren’t terribly heavy right around our house. But between batches we moved, and the trees in our yard and our immediate neighbors’ were cicada central. I love napping in my hammock, but it was so loud, we essentially lost use of our yard for one of the nicest months of the too-short Chicago area summer. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-year-cicadas-to-swarm-from-georgia-to-new-york/657961/7 "2013-05-10T13:42:29Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Sorry, no. They’ve already heard about [9-11.](http://www.theonion.com/articles/17year-cicadas-horrified-to-learn-about-911,32341/) Oh fuck! Billions more truthers??? That’s JUST what we need! Do they think Obama was born in Kenya too? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-year-cicadas-to-swarm-from-georgia-to-new-york/657961/8 "2013-05-10T14:06:59Z")
Before you get too annoyed at the [noise](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicada#Cicada_song), try to appreciate how unusual it is. > [@](#): > > Male cicadas have loud noisemakers called “[tymbals](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tymbal)” on the sides of the [abdominal](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdomen) base. Their “singing” is not the [stridulation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stridulation) (where one structure is rubbed against another) of many other familiar sound-producing insects like [crickets](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket_%28insect%29): the tymbals are regions of the [exoskeleton](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exoskeleton) that are modified to form a complex membrane with thin, membranous portions and thickened “ribs”. Contracting the internal tymbal muscles produces a clicking sound as the tymbals buckle inwards. As these muscles relax, the tymbals return to their original position producing another click. The interior of the male abdomen is substantially hollow to amplify the resonance of the sound. A cicada rapidly vibrates these membranes, and enlarged chambers derived from the [tracheae](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invertebrate_trachea) make its body serve as a [resonance](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resonance) chamber, greatly amplifying the sound. The cicada modulates the sound by positioning its abdomen toward or away from the substrate. Additionally, each species has its own distinctive “song”.[[1]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicada#cite_note-Milne-1) There are some sound files at the link. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-year-cicadas-to-swarm-from-georgia-to-new-york/657961/9 "2013-05-10T16:12:12Z")
Here our cicadas are six years through their 17-year peregrinations underground. Sometimes I think about them, munching away down there, their only aboveground memory being the day of their hatching. All were born in 2007; all are doomed to die in 2024, unless they meet underground misfortune sooner. But as for noise, I think our annual cicadas, every August, are worse. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-year-cicadas-to-swarm-from-georgia-to-new-york/657961/10 "2013-05-10T22:58:57Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > our cicadas are six years through their 17-year peregrinations underground. Underground peregrinations? How far can they walk (crawl, tunnel), while a foot (or so) deep? ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-year-cicadas-to-swarm-from-georgia-to-new-york/657961/11 "2013-05-10T23:25:15Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Underground peregrinations? How far can they walk (crawl, tunnel), while a foot (or so) deep? It depends on whether or not you buy the whole story about “sleeping” for 17 years. Sure, just like I went to “college” for [mumble] years. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-year-cicadas-to-swarm-from-georgia-to-new-york/657961/12 "2013-05-10T23:57:04Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > Here our cicadas are six years through their 17-year peregrinations underground. Sometimes I think about them, munching away down there No munching…they suck. Actually, not metaphorically. I kinda like them. ---
**Author:** ![\_Olive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/4af34b/32.png) [@\_Olive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Olive)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2013, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-year-cicadas-to-swarm-from-georgia-to-new-york/657961/13 "2013-05-11T00:19:11Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > I can recall getting hammered with the things in 1987 when Brood X emerged in DC/MD/VA. It was a blast. I remember being hit in the head with an umbrella in 87 when brood x emerged! ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2013, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-year-cicadas-to-swarm-from-georgia-to-new-york/657961/14 "2013-05-11T01:59:47Z")
> [@deltasigma](#): > > Before you get too annoyed at the [noise](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicada#Cicada_song), try to appreciate how unusual it is. There are some sound files at the link. I can confidently say that it is hard to appreciate when they are on your bedroom window at three in the morning. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-year-cicadas-to-swarm-from-georgia-to-new-york/657961/15 "2013-05-14T21:46:41Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > I can recall getting hammered with the things in 1987 when Brood X emerged in DC/MD/VA. It was a blast. What do they like to drink?