Once the soil temperature hits a steady 64 degrees or so, you may notice an odd ruckus starting up in your neighborhood and wonder…what’s that buzzing sound?
The cause? Great numbers of Brood X, aka periodical cicadas.
Between 1 and 2 million of them per acre in Indiana will be heard statewide following their emergence this spring from underground.
These masters of persistence will burst onto the scene to breed, assuring that the continuation of their species will continue.
“There’s going to be 1 to 2 million per acre boiling out of the ground,” explained Clifford Sadof, professor of entomology at Purdue University, “This is what they call, technically, a satiation strategy. So in other words there’s going to be so many insects coming out that no one predator is going to be able to eat them all.”
Predators like birds, squirrels and some pets may do some damage to the cicadas numbers, but not enough to keep them from successfully breeding.
Not a bad strategy, but of course it means hiding away underground for 17 years first, but, OK, whatever it takes, right?
They will feed on tree roots while underground, but only young trees are typically affected during any phase of the bugs’ breeding cycle.
It’s important to note that these winged insects are unlikely to win a beauty contest with their prehistoric-looking transparent veined wings and red eyes.
However, they are completely harmless. They are incapable of biting humans or doing much of anything, really, except fly toward you and maybe giving you a start.
That said, I hope that you’ll choose to let them be (and spread the word). After all, they’ve endured a long, long hibernation to emerge and fulfill their destiny!
A brief few weeks as compared to our lifetime, and they’ll be outta here.
We can live through a few weeks of males buzzing to attract female mates to help Mother Nature’s own fulfill their destinies, right? They’re staging a rare natural wonder, after all, and offering up a great learning opportunity for the kids.
But, hey, not everyone finds bugs endlessly fascinating.
If no convincing will change your mind, there are some ways that you can more or less avoid them. One good way is to opt to do outdoor activities like gardening and mowing the grass in the early morning or before dusk when cicadas are less active.
So sit back and enjoy the free-of-charge show. They’ll not be back until 2038!
Becky Pinto has been a Master Gardener since 2006 and was the Master Gardener newsletter editor from 2006-2019. She’s a Silver Level Master Gardener, based on cumulative volunteer hours served in the program. Her columns publish on the second Saturday of each month in The Republic. All opinions expressed are those of the writer. Send comments to editorial@therepublic.com.
