Imagine for a moment a bright, warm summer day. The sun is shining, the sky is clear, and you, like everyone else, are enjoying the beautiful outdoors. Perhaps you are having a picnic, or kicking around a soccer ball with your friends without a care in the world. Then, all of a sudden, you look down at your feet and from all around you thousands upon thousands of insects the size of your finger begin wriggling and burrowing their way out of the ground. Everywhere you look these nasty bugs are emerging, and the air is filled with a cacophony of chirping as they run through the grass and even take flight.
Well, unfortunately for you, this isn’t just some f–ked up horror scenario I made up. This is real, and in a few short weeks we will all be experiencing this hell together. These mystery insects are actually cicadas, and if you happen to be living in the Midwest this coming summer of 2021, they are coming for you.
So why is this demonic cicada plague happening? It has to do with cicada life cycles. Certain species of cicadas live on periodical life cycles. Every set amount of years, the cicadas emerge en masse to mate with one another and lay eggs. Then, the eggs hatch and the nymphs burrow their way into the ground to feed and lay in wait until the next mass mating event. In North America, there are 7 species of periodical cicadas: 4 with 13 year cycles, and 3 with 17 year cycles. This year, 2021, the 17 year cicadas are due for a mating season. These 3 species together are known as Brood X or the Great Eastern Brood (why is it called Brood X? Idk some entomologist just named it arbitrarily in 1898 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯).
As Brood X emerges, billions of cicadas that have finally reached maturity will crawl out from the ground and search for a mate. You read that right: billions, with a b. I assume you may be wondering: why would cicadas evolve this strategy for mating? One theory is that during the glacial periods of the past few million years, the cicadas evolved to have extended life cycles because the growing season was too short to complete development. Another theory you can observe for yourself this summer. Cicadas, in the nicest way possible, suck at surviving. As they crawl out, all sorts of predators will make easy work of the helpless cicadas. However, because there are so many emerging, predators will literally have too much to eat, and enough will escape predation to mate and birth the next generation.
After all that, I wouldn’t blame you for wanting to stay inside all summer. But, if you can brave the bugs, I do encourage everyone to get outside and see this spectacle of nature. This is a rare event that won’t happen again until 2038. Furthermore, cicadas are completely harmless – they don’t bite, sting, or do anything really except make obnoxious noises. Speaking of obnoxious noises, these cicadas will be loud. Some scientists estimate choruses of cicadas reaching up to 100 decibels (the equivalent of your car stereo blasting full sound). And, as soon as they come, they will be gone. Most of the cicadas will emerge around May and be back in the ground by July. So, for anyone lucky (or unlucky) enough to see this natural phenomenon: sit back, relax, and maybe invest in some noise cancelling headphones.
I don’t know too much about the specifics of cicadas — though hearing them, irritates me. You are really good at explaining things and, as a person who doesn’t enjoy bugs, you kind of give us an understanding over the creepy crawlies.
I have to say: I love the idea of this blog. It’s so random, yet the randomness contributes to the obscurity of your blog. One thing I would change in your setup would be to switch the title and subheading. I think if you kept the 101 Obscure (and Useless) Facts at the top, it might be more eye-catching. Anyway, nice post!
This was a terrible blog post in a great way. All of the information was well presented, but it is just truly horrifying to hear about.
As for polishing up your blog, I really have no big corrections in mind. Maybe just read through all of them one more time in case of spelling or grammatical errors.
I LOVE the sound of cicadas. They provide me with such a strong sense of nostalgia and memories of hot summer nights with every window in the house open.
I love the way you present your information (arguably) even more than I love the sound of cicadas. Your comedic style of writing is very engaging and makes me wish there was never an end to your posts! I really cannot think of any suggestions, your blog is already perfectly polished! Something super nit picky about this post in general is that the map image is centered, but the “Brood X cicadas emerging in 2004” image is off to the left, so it’s not as aesthetically pleasing as it could be had they both been centered. But, that is such a stretch; good job with this blog! Truly amazing reads.
I have to say,,, I hated this blog. It was written perfectly and everything was super clear, hence why I hate it. I am from California so I have never experienced this and I am actually terrified to, so thank you. I am super glad you made me aware of this so that I know to leave Pennsylvania! Anyways, your blog was beautifully written and it was interesting to read, just unfortunate that this is real life.
After reading this post as a resident of northeastern Pennsylvania, all I have to say is HELL NO. I know of the existence of cicadas but try to ignore it as I pretty much hate all bugs. But, this blog was extremely informational and was really fun to read. I like how you put bits and pieces of your personality throughout the post, it made it really enjoyable. I have no big recommendations of anything to change, and thanks for the warning; I will be staying indoors until July.
First of all, the topic for your blog is great. This blog post made me very glad (for once in my life) that I live in Connecticut. I had no idea there were insects like this, and it’s terrifying. I like the comedy mixed into because it’s always great to make light of something like this. I’m definitely gonna read some of your other parts to learn more random facts.
The idea of your blog is so fascinating. I love random facts like this, it’s super interesting. I had no idea that these bugs existed and that they have the capacity to breed to such a crazy extent. I wonder if this is common for other insects too. And who knew that bugs could be so loud. That’s lowkey kinda scary. If I ever hear this noise coming for me, I will be sure to run far away from the northeast!
I hated reading about this because I hate bugs, but you did a great job presenting all the information about cicadas. The way you write is very entertaining, and I feel like I can better explain cicadas now. As for corrections, I don’t have anything huge…just proofread everything before you submit! Good work!