Return of the Cicadas!
What a video! I’m pretty sure there will be only two reactions: “F-ing gross!!” or “F-ing cool!!”
With soil temperatures along the East Coast now above the mid-60’s, the Brood II cicadas are up and chirping! Check out WNYC/Radiolab’s real-time Cicada Tracker map to see where they have been observed:
The video above is a jaw-droppingly superb look at the rise of the magicicada from its underground lair, their mass ascent to the trees, their monstrous metamorphosis into adults, and their brief mission to avoid being eaten and reproduce.
It’s the work of Samuel Orr, who has a Kickstarter campaign going to produce an hour-long documentary on these Time Lords of the insect world.
More cicada stuff:
- Why do these periodic cicadas only pop up ever 13 or 17 years (depending ont he exact brood)? I was a guest on New Hampshire public radio to talk about the evolutionary advantage of prime numbers and enormous populations.
- Illustrated cicada emergence in GIF form!
- Time-lapse video of a Brood XIX cicada emerging
If any of you on the East Coast have photos or video of abandoned shells, climbing juveniles, or chirping adults, I’d love to see them! Tweet me or email them to itsokaytobesmart at gmail dot com.
(via scishow)
