Cicada Watch 2004

[Darth Marley]

For those of you that are not blessed with periodic locust plagues, take a look at what you are missing.

http://www.msj.edu/cicada/faq.html

Are cicadas "locusts"?
Periodical cicadas are often incorrectly called locusts. Locusts are grasshoppers, while cicadas are most closely related to aphids. The term "locust" began to be used to describe cicadas around 1715 in the English colonies, when settlers tried to make sense of the cicada emergences by equating them with the biblical plagues. Because the cicadas appeared in great numbers and were eaten by the Native Americans, just as biblical locusts appeared in great numbers and were eaten by John the Baptist, "locust" seemed a logical name for them.

What do they taste like?
Periodical cicadas are best eaten when they are still white (teneral), and they taste like cold canned asparagus. Like all insects, cicadas have a good balance of vitamins, are low in fat, and the females are especially high in protein. They are also Atkins friendly!

[amberstar]

Don't think I'll be trying them anytime soon for dinner ;)

Thanks for sharing Darth

Amber

[Flamingo Girl]

I've only seen a very few of them, and about a dozen shells.

[bsg1fan1975]

we don't get them here. We get those nasty 'squitos though. I saw a story about the cicadas on tv last week

[warhammerdriver]

I read an article in Bassmaster magazine that said basically that bass go crazy over them, gorging themselves and passing up their "normal" forage.

Tie on a cicada look-alike and go fishin'! I hear there's some five-pounders out there!

[skippercollecto]

I live in southwestern Cincinnati and work in southeast Indiana. It's now 5:30 p.m. eastern time Thursday, May 20. On my drive home from work I heard the cicadas for the first time, although I've yet to see them. They're not that loud now, but in a few days you won't be able to hear yourself think.
Mary

[jewels]

Mary so far my neighborhood seems to be cicada free.....which is amazing. (I'm about 35 miles north of Mary.)

I'm happily enjoying the outside when it's not storming. I so hate those nasty, ugly, noisy, kamikaze flying bugs.

[unowhoandwhy]

Just a warning that if you are inclined to try some cicadas for dinner (no thanks, btw) you shouldn't if you have any food allergies. A man almost died this week because he had food allergies (shellfish, I think) and he ate a large quantity of them.

[bsg1fan1975]

I am resisting the urge if I ever see one.

[Flamingo Girl]

When I left the theatre this afternoon, the sound was amazing! You could hear them far away likr a thousand airconditioners running, and the closer ones were a mighty buzzing. Every so often there would be a burst from one even closer. It was amazing, truely amazing. I guess they just needed some time to wake up.

[gunnerk19]

I'll take mine garlic roasted and with some Cajun BBQ dipping sauce please... :D

[skippercollecto]

Remember when Cassiopeia talked about the Gemonese sect that allowed contact between genders once ever seven years during a sun storm? Imagine you're a cicada that has to find a mate during a six-week period once every 17 years!

[jewels]

I am resisting the urge if I ever see one.
If you ever see one, trust me, there will be no urge. ;)

[bsg1fan1975]

*shudders at the mental images that just went thorugh her mind*

not an insect person here

[Darth Marley]

Cicada cookbook in pdf format http://www.urhome.umd.edu/newsdesk/pdf/cicada%20recipes.PDF

A noted homebrewer (and homebrew supply company owner) in Connco is asking about how best to make Cicada beer.

[skippercollecto]

So, how many of you have found blue-eyed cicadas now that everyone is looking for them? My 6-year-old nephew found one and was very disappointed to learn that no one wanted to buy it (it's an urban legend that research centers are paying for them). A woman in the hospital where I work brought another one in a jar to work with her and was carrying it around the cafeteria to show everyone. Yuck!

Mary

[unowhoandwhy]

I haven't seen any cicadas at all (blue eyes or otherwise.) I'd like to say I was upset about that, but I'm not a big fan of bugs. I still have nightmares about when I was living in Panama and the roaches grew so big they flew at you and fought back when you tried to squash them. :shudders in disgust:

[skippercollecto]

For those of you living outside of the cicada invasion area and who still don't have a clear picture in your mind about how big and ugly these things are, you might want to go buy the new June 7 issue of People. There's an article in there about Gene Kritsky, the Cincinnati cicada god who's been interviewed by media all over the planet recently. There's a looooovely picture of him covered with the bugs so that you can see for yourself how numerous they are.

Mary

[unowhoandwhy]

Remind me not to pick up that issue of People while I'm in line at the store. Uggghhhh.

[Flamingo Girl]

I was going to post a pic of them, but unfortunately attempting to install my camera onto my new computer caused a huge problem and all but shut down my system. I'm seriously bummed. No scanner. No camera. AND I have a trial of PSP8.

[BST]

On our way to Virginia Beach this past weekend (and on the way back), we heard the :music: of those blasted little varmints! I forgot just how LOUD those pesky things can be.

We were travelling the US 522 corridor down towards Winchester, VA, and even had a few wayward cicadas do 'kami-kaze' runs at the car. I know they're absolutely no match for the size of a car but, why is it, even with the smallest bug, you always feel the urge to duck when something flies at the windshield?

:D

[Rowan]

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/03/images/040329_cicadas.jpg
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/03/0329_040329_cicadas.html

;)

[unowhoandwhy]

Uggghhh! That's not a face I wanted to wake up to, I should avoid bug threads, I know better than to think that there won't be a picture at some point. :shudder: :ugh:

[jewels]

BST, we've had to go down to Cicada central (the Clifton area of Cincinnati) these past 2 weeks a few times. Saw one actual swarm of them (some of them LIKE the sounds of cars) flying on the interstate and well the van needs a major bath. The funniest is when they land on your windshield when you're stopped and just sit there like "what is this?"

BTW: You ducked because they look like small birds flying at you and they make rather large splats when they hit!!!

It's not a good idea to eat them I've heard because they've had 17 years to soak in everysubstance that seeps into the ground: pesticides, herbicides and insecticides and poisions included.

Jewels

[unowhoandwhy]

Here's another reason not to eat them: they are bugs and bugs are gross. ;) :)

[Flamingo Girl]

Crabs and lobsters are bugs too, and few people have a problem eating them.

Also, didja know that cicadas are blind? They make the noise so they can find each other to breed.

[shiningstar]

For those of you that are not blessed with periodic locust plagues, take a look at what you are missing.

http://www.msj.edu/cicada/faq.html

EWWWWWWWWWW!!!

I remember those days well from when I lived in Texas.

Thanks for the memories :erk:

[peter noble]

Are cicadas those things that make that clicking noise at night?

I've been to the States twice and I couldn't believe how noisy it was at when you were trying to get to sleep!

Peter

[BST]

Are cicadas those things that make that clicking noise at night?


I've been to the States twice and I couldn't believe how noisy it was at when you were trying to get to sleep!

Peter

Those are crickets, Peter. When the cicadas have appeared, there will be no mistaking it, they are incredibly LOUD, both day and night!

:(

The cicadas have also been given the misnomer of "locust". There are a couple of varieties which show up only 1 time every 13 or 17 years, to mate. Otherwise, they spend the remainder of their time underground.

BST :)

[shiningstar]

Are cicadas those things that make that clicking noise at night?

I've been to the States twice and I couldn't believe how noisy it was at when you were trying to get to sleep!

Peter

Yes Peter. If you think the NOISE is bad ........just wait until they get in your hair
or stick to your clothes.

Those are NASTY little buggers! :rage:

[peter noble]

Yes Peter. If you think the NOISE is bad ........just wait until they get in your hair
or stick to your clothes.

Those are NASTY little buggers! :rage:

They're not as nasty as cockroaches. I'd never seen one until I went to Florida!

YUCK!

Peter

[Flamingo Girl]

Cicadas don't usually make noise at night as they sleep when the temp is low. During the day they make a loud sort of buzzing noise. They put crickets to shame.

[shiningstar]

They're not as nasty as cockroaches. I'd never seen one until I went to Florida!

YUCK!

Peter

At least a COCKROACH never flew into my hair.

[Flamingo Girl]

If you've never had a cockroach fly into your hair, you don't live anywhere near the South.

[shiningstar]

If you've never had a cockroach fly into your hair, you don't live anywhere near the South.

I live in New Mexico now. But I used to live in TX ...........and NO .............
when I was there no cockroaches ever flew into my hair .............they
were under my shoes alot but that was about it. :D

[Laura]

Many years ago I learned to hate the crunching sound when my cousins' cats would leap up the trunk of a tree, grab a cicada, and eat it. It was disgusting.

[skippercollecto]

Today is Sunday, June 20, and the cicadas are 90 percent gone from Cincinnati. I won't miss them. I got tired of picking up dead ones that had flown into my car and then died.
Mary

[bsg1fan1975]

saw a few of them last Sunday as we were passing through Maryland and had stopped in Antietam to visit the battlefield there. They are surely ugly looking buggers!

[skippercollecto]

The Cincinnati Enquirer ran a contest for weeks in which you could enter limericks about cicadas. Unfortunately, I didn't come up with one until after the contest was over and the cicadas were about done with their reign. So I'm writing it here instead.
Mary

I wanted to go out in glory
Even if my last moments were gory
I divebombed a car
My guts went afar
And thus ended my life's story.

[skippercollecto]

The 17-year cicadas are gone, but the annual cicadas are now here, and I am happy. I heard them for the first time this morning. To me, they are the best herald of summer--I love the sound the annual cicadas make.

Mary

[unowhoandwhy]

I am so glad that we didn't get them where I live, I have enough icky bugs living near my house. And let's not even think about the caterpillar infestation I have on my property! (Shudders in disgust.)

[bsg1fan1975]

same thing here. The mosquitos are bad enough. got eaten alive at the fireworks the other night.