Cicadas

This year a brood of cicadas is emerging this year in the south and we have some in our backyard.  Cicadas are an insect that emerges from underground every 13-17 years depending on the brood to mate.  They come when the ground temperature is 64 degrees.  The male comes first and flies into the trees where he sings his song to attract a mate.  It is a very loud song, and all of them together make quite the racket.  The female then lays eggs in twigs of the trees.  In a few weeks the eggs hatch and the newborns dive into the ground and start burrowing, not to see the light of day for another 13 years.  Although they look a little scary they have no way to hurt us.  It took a little while to figure out what was going on with our lawn, and what all the husks on the trees and porch were from.  Quite interesting and we get to see it happen.