Everything and more about gardening in Shady's SE Iowa (USA) location.
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Cicadas Arrived a Couple of Weeks Ago!
What is the purpose of a Cicada? The nymphs crawl from holes in the ground, obviously where they have over-wintered. Shedding its skin, the Cicada leaves its outgrown shell hanging...
The adult emerges...
They begin singing in the early morning hours... and chorus all day.
Well not much. I've actually never seen one before. Were they the plague that hit ancient Egypt in the Bible? In any case I love your beautiful picture of the Prairie Smoke. We saw some of them on our visit last week to Iowa's Hayden Prairie near Chester. I yellow ladyslippers were also gorgeous that day....;)
Great photos! These are the 17 year cicadas. They will live about six weeks, mating and laying eggs underground and hatch in another 17 years. You are fortunate to see them in your yard. I saw one in my garden, and three of the empty "shells" but that's it. The "regular" annual cicadas will appear soon. They look quite different.
Thank you, Beth! My son also enlightened me last night. ;-) Can you imagine something like this waiting 17 years to crawl out of the ground? You should SEE the holes in our backyard! And the noisy critters are amazing!
Thank you for visiting today. I don't mean to make it hard for you to leave a message, but temporarily I am going to enable word verification. Too many spam messages to deal with lately. Thanks for your patience! SG
Well not much. I've actually never seen one before. Were they the plague that hit ancient Egypt in the Bible? In any case I love your beautiful picture of the Prairie Smoke. We saw some of them on our visit last week to Iowa's Hayden Prairie near Chester. I yellow ladyslippers were also gorgeous that day....;)
ReplyDeleteGreat photos! These are the 17 year cicadas. They will live about six weeks, mating and laying eggs underground and hatch in another 17 years. You are fortunate to see them in your yard. I saw one in my garden, and three of the empty "shells" but that's it. The "regular" annual cicadas will appear soon. They look quite different.
ReplyDeleteTroutbirder, You have mentioned Hayden Prairie before. This has become a "destination!" I would love to see the yellow lady slippers!!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Beth! My son also enlightened me last night. ;-) Can you imagine something like this waiting 17 years to crawl out of the ground? You should SEE the holes in our backyard! And the noisy critters are amazing!
ReplyDelete