The Insane Biology of: The Cicada

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Credits:
Writer/Narrator: Stephanie Sammann
Writer: Lorraine Boissoneault

References
[10]
[11] Gene Kritsky A Tale of Two Broods: The 2024 Emergence of Periodical Cicada Broods XIII and XIX Ohio Biological Survey 2024

[mohdrazif]

I am from Malaysia. On February 2008, cicadas emerged in extremely large number and swarmed the town I was living. And they were super duper loud. One day I was walking on a bridge, then I heard their sound. The sound keeps getting louder and louder, then the flying cicada hit me in the face. The hit nearly made me lose balance. Some weeks later, they died in masses, and we had to sweep them for hours in many days because they were just too many. It was a unique experience for young me back then.

[j-davis]

I love that their whole strategy is show up, get naked, be loud, and go back to sleep for over a decade. I aspire to be so free

[ajrodriguez]

Short story time: I grew up in Illinois and one spring when I was 9, I claimed a cicada attacked me. After sundown, one cicada kept flying around my head, smacking into me, and falling on the floor just to fly right back up at me. Other thing was it's abdomen was missing, and at 9 years old this scared me shitless. After watching this, I now realize I wasn't attacked, I was just hit by a bug doing shrooms and flying.

[stormyskyz]

My daughter saved an injured one a couple years ago (she was 7). She fell in love with that silly thing. Rip Robby, best cicada ever

[davey_wonder]

As a young kid 17 years ago I was enamored with these guys. I would go find them every night and bring them on my grandpas screen patio to emerge on his small potted trees and then in the morning I would come out to find them all patiently waiting with their old shells to be released. I remember one time when I was searching for nymphs and I stepped on one a tiny bit. I cried so much… I have been a cicada nerd my whole life, and to this day I still take walks every summer to search for those sleepy little nymphs that need help finding a comfy place to molt. These guys are so important to the world as we know it. Let’s all love and appreciate these little critters!! (Even though they can be obnoxious)

[snickersmyknickers]

Those poor cicadas who woke up on the 16th year probably felt like the most loneliest bunch in the world.

[katibarrett]

Born and raised in Arizona, which has cicadas every year. To me, their noise is the sound of summer. As a kid I would collect their husks. I thought they were beautiful.

[oneidawolf]

There is a story in my peoples oral history about how the onondaga nation of the haudenosaunee went through a famine. Their village and crops were burnt and they had no food the people were in turmoil. At this time the cicadas emerged and they ate cicadas for sustenance. To this day they are thankful to them for getting them through those hard times. They are important to us for giving us life when we may not have had it if we had not had their sustenance. (Edit: The Onondaga nation is in New York State close to Syracuse and in their language the word they use for cicada is " Ogweñ•yó'da' ")

[jimellis]

I'm in my 70s, in the 1970s I had been driving all day, intent on camping in east Tennessee where cicadas were everywhere. Went up a forestry road just after dark, too tired to find a quieter place. Point is, I lay on the ground on top a sleeping bag waiting for the noise to cease. I tried to understand why some of them were chirping in unison when finally they ALL chirped at the same instant. It was followed by profound silence for a few seconds. Freaked me out. They didn't repeat this .

[regalthelion]

I'm from Chicago, where we're getting our 17 year cicadas this year. We had some come out in 2020, 4 years early. Can't wait to see how many we get this year. It's gonna be awesome.

[PortRhouse]

That fungus segment is one of the craziest things I have ever heard in my life. Zombie cicadas tripping balls. What a world we live in.

[georgejones]

Cicadas are certainly one of the more interesting insects. Partly because they're so elusive, which makes studying them difficult.
Also one of my favorite bug poke'mon.

[notfittobeking]

Loved the shout-out to Dr. Chris Maier!! I worked as a summer research assistant next to his laboratory at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. He identified a couple flies for me. I was always blown away by his vast knowledge of many types of insects. One of the coolest entomologists I have had the pleasure of knowing even if briefly.

[DaddyWarlocks]

Houstonian here. I love cicadas. I love the sound, I think they look and live so neat, and I always figured such a weird bug had to be good for it's environment. S tier insect.

[JustNora]

I saw the best bumper sticker! It says, "Y'all mind if I scream a bit?" With a picture of a cicada on it. As someone in the southeast USA, deep in cicada territory, I love it. Signs of the season change are when you see holes burst through the leaf litter, cicada nymph shells EVERYWHERE, and finally the screaming intensifying at dusk. As much as their chirps drive me nuts, it wouldn't feel like summer without them. I prefer the sound of the toads and tree frogs singing at night after a summer rain, though.

[slamrock]

I once went fishing but forgot bait. Good thing it was a cicada year. I had enough bait for all day on one little bush.

[MrsBrit]

I got married during the 17 years emergence. We had an outdoor wedding. 😂 I couldn't have planned that better, tbh, because I love the little dumb dumbs! They're awesome!

[nunxdjv]

It's so refreshing to see nature documentaries that are informative, straight to the point, and not flooded with forced suspense. Instant subscribe.😊

[jteach]

The amount of time and energy put into this video is very very evident. Respect

[Radhaun]

I actually love cicada songs. There is one song in particular that I really associate with safety and home. It helped keep me from feeling homesick when I studied abroad. These can definitely be terrifying when they're in your house, but I am truly stoked to not only live when the double emergence happens, but to be in an area where it's happening!