The 2007 cicadas

blackhawk08 said:

Do you guys know that the 17 year locust hatch happens this year right? does anyone think it will affect anything in the downtown region?

Click to expand...

Doubtful; Cicadas are relatively harmless, they fly around only to lay their eggs once they emerge from trees and the ground. Just like any other living thing (including humans): They are probably more afraid of you then you are of them; they don't even bite or sting, they're just large, ugly, and full of protein.

Cicadas will only emerge in significant numbers in areas that had mature tree cover 17 years ago. Downtown will therefore be mostly exempt. Grant Park might have a few, but nothing compared to farther-out residential neighborhoods. Of course, downtown is loud enough that some extra cicada noise would not be a big deal anyway.

i want to see how the animals interact with the 17 year cicadas. as their name suggests, this rare occurance will be a once in a lifetime event for most animals including millions of cats and dogs. i'm sure there will be plenty of fat birds trying to get off the ground. there are going to be billions of cicadas in the Chicagoland area. this means millions are available to be eaten/killed, this is a survival technique that ensures survival of the race. two trees that may be the most common for cicada development are the oak and the maple.

UrbanSophist said:

I think they're conventionally classified as a species.

Click to expand...

i think you would be wrong. care to add anything to the thread or just interject foolishly?

8. a natural kind of living creature: the race of fishes.

Click to expand...

link

people these days...

When I was living in Washington DC we got our cicadas in 2004.

It was quite a site. There are TONS of them, they die quickly, and the most important thing? They're STUPID.

Evolution never armed them with defenses of any sort, probably because they don't need it. They spend 99.99% of their existence as little grubs below ground, and when they finally emerge their entire existence calls for them to have sex and then die.

One time I was eating at the bar in a Thai restaurant and a cicada flew in and landed on my shoulder. It just sat there for a while, and finally I grabbed it between my two fingers (taking my time in doing so) and tossed it back out onto the sidewalk. What other insect would let you do that?

My favorite thing about cicadas is that when they bunch together, their collective mating songs make for quite an experience. Quite loud, too.

I saw a bunch of holes, so I dug and I found one.

http://s14.photobucket.com/albums/a347/aztec_vamp/?action=view&current=WE007.flv

Video



My first time. Wahha

Advertisement within the threads now.
^^
What the hell is this?:bash: