An Animated Guide to This Year ’s Massive Brood X Cicada Emergence

As COVID-19 vaccination continues, many of us are gearing up to come out of our shells after what feels like years of laying low. But this spring’s emergence of trillions of Brood X cicadas will make our renewed buzz of activity look like child’s play. Every 17 years, trillions of Brood X cicadas emerge from below ground, ready to party. The circle-of-life spectacle comes with a deafening mating ritual—plus sex in the treetops, predation and also, inevitably, death. Just about as quickly as they emerge, the cicadas will all be gone. The adults will be left to decompose on the ground, and newly hatched nymphs will burrow into the soil, their home for the next 17 years until, like clockwork, the cycle begins anew. Here’s an animated look at this year’s Brood X cicada emergence: The nymphs emerge Brood X cicada nymphs emerge at night, through exit holes they’ve created in the ground, when soil temperatures reach about 64℉. A revolting molting The same night they crawl above ground, cicada nymphs climb to vertical surfaces to shed their skin. Adult cicadas emerge from the shedded skin, littering piles of crunchy exoskeletons in yards across 15 U.S. states. The bodies mature Over the course of several hours, the cicadas’ bodies harden and darken. The insects keep a low profile during this time to avoid being eaten by predators—but they will soon fly to the treetops, where their mating ritual will take place six to 10 days la...
Source: TIME: Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Environment interactive Source Type: news