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Swarm of Cicadas Takes Aim at U.S.

Posted by michael on from the check-your-screen-doors dept.

wetshoe writes "'After 17 years of relative quiet, Mother Nature is bringing the noise. 'Periodical cicadas, a species of the grasshopper-like insects best known for the scratching, screeching "singing" of the males, will emerge this May, filling forests in more than a dozen states. Almost as abruptly as they arrive, they'll disappear underground for another 17 years.' The article also talks about areas in the Mid-West where 17-year June Bugs sometimes overlap with 13-year June Bugs. I remember as a child one such time, you literally couldn't walk anywhere without stepping on them, they were everywhere. Reminded me of a biblical plague."

8 of 86 comments (clear)

  1. Biblical proportions? by ka9dgx · · Score: 2, Funny
    Hmmm... the President of the US whores the country, in order to take over Babylon, then we see something reminicent of a Biblical Plague?

    Hmmm....

    --Mike--

  2. Wow! by Reducer2001 · · Score: 5, Funny
    Reminded me of a biblical plague. Wow! You must be old!

    --
    When you get to hell -- tell 'em Itchy sent ya!
  3. Biblical plague by sbb · · Score: 2, Funny

    I remember as a child one such time, you literally couldn't walk anywhere without stepping on them, they were everywhere. Reminded me of a biblical plague.

    Oh yeah. Remember the back in "aught 7", (BC 807, that is)? That was a doozy! I remember that as if it were yesterday... ah, the good ole days.

  4. Ah, yes, I remember... by Anonymous+Codger · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...the last time this brood popped up, 17 years ago. You literally couldn't walk down the street without stepping on them. You'd go for a walk and come back with several cicadas clinging to your clothes. Racoons and other animals would feast on them - we had racoons who would eat a few hundred of them and then throw up on our roof. Ugh.

    Since then I've become an avid bicyclist. I'm a little worried about what it's going to be like riding a bike with these things flying around. Yum, extra protein, no need to stop for lunch.

    --
    No sig? Sigh...
  5. We loves periodical cicadas. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Their periods are primes, w00t. CNN doesn't mention this. I guess they're afraid to intimidate the audience.

  6. Re:Not June Bugs by Waffle+Iron · · Score: 5, Funny
    Those big juicy June bugs (which show up every year, and not just in June) have to be the stupidest creatures on this planet. Their entire brain can be implemented in a few lines of code:

    begin:
    start uncontrolled flight
    crash hard into random object
    fall to ground and land on back
    take 10 minutes to flip onto legs
    goto begin

    I really don't know what they're trying to accomplish, or why they bother when they're so bad at it.

  7. Re:Um, so?.... by Giant+Ape+Skeleton · · Score: 2, Funny
    Ok, so there's just gonna be *lots* more than usual, I can dig it.
    I was worried that they were like a flesh-eating variant or something.

    Phew! :-)

    --
    The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.
  8. hahahhaa by ShadowRage · · Score: 3, Funny

    yeah, my sister used to take those and play house with them with these weird little bear figurines... and would cut the heads off and "serve" them to the bear figurines as dinner to the figures.

    many beetles died to my sister's little mini plastic knife.