2 posts tagged “cicadas”

I think I hit the cicadas at or near their peak. It was somewhat like being in a science-fiction flick, given their absolutely incessant, pulsing hum. Their dead and dying bodies were all over my Dad's patio (where this pic was taken).

My first day in Northbrook, I went over to Little Louie's Red Hots for lunch and took my order across to the Village Green Park.

Hmmm. Saturday. Noon. Not a soul there. Nobody.  Just me, and as it turned out the cicadas. One landed on my shoulder and gave out its mating call, all within about 6 inches of my ear. Yow that was loud.

Each cicada creates noise equal to 90-decibels

I was beginning to understand why the park was empty, but I stuck it out regardless. Really, it wasn't too bad--aside from the visitor on my shoulder I wasn't really hassled much by them. But I could understand the aversion.

Finally, here's a good recording of cicadas en masse. To get the full effect, turn the volume up LOUD.

 

When I was in Chicago, there were already signs of the cicadas coming to the surface.

The red-eyed, shrimp-sized, flying insects don't bite or sting. But they are known for mating calls that produce a din that can overpower ringing telephones, lawn mowers and power tools.

I last experienced cicadas in 1973. We lived in a neighborhood that butted up against the Forest Preserve. The darn things were everywhere. And they were huge.

They emerge from the ground and crawl up trees. Their skin breaks open in back and the insect crawls out. They turn black and fly to the tree tops. They make a lot of noise. They mate. They lay eggs. They die.

Image this:

An Illinois company that provides ice sculptures has turned down several outdoor parties over the next month. That's because of what happened when Nadeau Ice Sculptures owner Jim Nadeau delivered a swan statue to a wedding in 1990, during the area's last emergence of the periodical cicadas.

"We put our tray down and immediately the cicadas came off the ground and attacked the ice. Literally, it was a moving sculpture, this big black ugly mass of cicadas constantly moving," said Nadeau. "I don't want to talk myself out of work, but that was just too gross," he said.

I bet that made an impression with the guests!