In one of nature's more bizarre rituals, billions of cicadas are set to emerge from their underground nymph phase along the United States east coast and enter a weeks-long process during which they will sing, mate, and ultimately die.
The colossal brood of cicadas is known as Magicicada brood 2, and it is one of a few cicada broods with a 17-year underground phase. Estimates of the brood's population density vary from tens of thousands to 1.5-million per acre. Magicicada brood 2 is expected to blanket a 900-mile stretch between Georgia and upstate New York and begin appearing in late May or June. Cicadas typically emerge when ground temperatures reach 64-degrees Fahrenheit.
The juvenile cicadas burrow their way to the surface and molt into their adult bodies. The males then attempt to sexually attract a female with a song produced by ribbed tymbal membranes.
"When there's a lot of them together, it's like this hovering noise. It sounds exactly like flying saucers from a 1950s movie," Chris Simon, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Connecticut, told Reuters.
After mating has completed, and the female has laid her eggs, the adult cicadas drop dead, and the wait begins for the next brood to arrive.
It's not entirely clear why certain broods have 17-year phases while others have 2-year, 5-year, or 13-year periods of feeding underground. One theory states emerging at distant intervals and in great numbers helps them avoid predation from creatures like the cicada killer wasp. A cicada with a 17-year life cycle and a parasite with a two-year life cycle would only meet twice every century, according to a study from the University of Campinas in Brazil.
Cicada nypmhs feed on root juice underground, while the adults have special tools to suck up plant sap.
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