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The cicadas are coming and according to scientists it is a sight – or really a sound – to behold.
Periodic cicadas – which occur in the northeast, usually in the central and eastern parts of the USA – appear every 17 years. The upcoming group, known as Bread X, is expected to emerge in the billions by the end of April or May, when the ground level warms up to about 64 degrees.
Bread X consists of three different types of cicadas. “But everyone acts like one group, one population,” Nancy Hinkle, a professor of entomology at the University of Georgia, told Yahoo Life.
How worried should I be about the cicada drone?
The group will crawl out of the ground at night – it will likely avoid predators, Hinkle says – for several days in waves. “They will crawl on sticks or tree trunks or fence posts and have their bodies hardened,” Hinkle explains. ‘Underground they are nymphs and have soft bodies. So they have to shed their skin [or exoskeleton] so that their wings will be free. It takes an hour or two [for their adult skin] to harden. “
And as soon as it reaches a certain temperature, says Hinkle, the ‘singing’ begins – and it’s not quiet either. In fact, cicadas are one of the noisiest insects. Their singing can be as loud as 100 decibels – the equivalent of a lawn mower about three feet away. But do not worry about the singing you stop at night – cicadas sing during the day.
“Periodic cicadas do not ring at night unless it is very hot during the night,” Chris Simon, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Connecticut, told Yahoo Life. “Since these are spring cicadas, they are less likely.”
Not all cicadas can carry a tune. “Only the men sing and they sing for sex,” Hinkle says. “That’s how they lure the female.” Each species of male cicadas also makes its own sound. “You can learn to distinguish between each species just by their sound,” she explains.
The serenade usually gets louder before the sun goes down, that is when cicadas call it a night. “Another call before sunset,” Hinkle said. Think of it as the last call to the bar.
What is the best way to handle incessant kikadesang?
But if singing is tricky during the day, especially with so many people now working from home, there are steps you can take. The use of noise-suppressing devices, machines and programs “makes more sense because the sounds of the cicadas are initially similar to white noise,” says dr. Steven Holfinger, a sleep medicine physician at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, told Yahoo Life.
Holfinger explains that there are two common categories of noise suppression – active or passive. “Passive noise suppression is when you try to reduce the volume of sounds, for example by using earplugs,” he explains. “Active noise cancellation is when headphones play the opposite sound wave to cancel the incoming noise. The point of passive or active noise cancellation is to silence the noise that would be annoying, while white noise is meant to drown out the sounds. ‘In general, I would consider it for cicadas to wear comfortable headphones that provide active or passive noise reduction if the cicadas are too loud.’
Holfinger says, however, that “a lot of people are likely to adapt to the sound because it’s fairly constant, similar to white noise, which can drown out our minds if it’s not excessively loud.” Or as Hinkle puts it: “People pay money for white noise generators – here you get it for free!”
What makes Bread X-kikades so special?
Of course, not everyone is a lover of bugs – especially so many at the same time – but Hinkle suggests that he accept the awareness of this event. “It’s our generation’s equivalent of Halley’s Comet,” says Hinkle. “It’s something that only happens every 17 years. Chances are you’ll probably only experience it four or five times in your entire life.”
Simon shares Hinkle’s enthusiasm: “This is one of the most amazing natural phenomena in the world!” And unlike some insects, cicadas are ‘completely harmless’, says Hinkle. “They can not bite and sting. And they are bad pamphlets. They are quite troublesome. Children can catch and hold them. If they try to sing, they will vibrate in your hand.”
If you are near or within driving distance of the place where cicadas usually occur, Hinkle says, “This is a wonderful opportunity for grandparents to take their grandchildren out into nature and experience it together. And when the grandchildren grow up, they can take their children. “
Even scientists who studied cicadas years ago find the musical insects fascinating. Hinkle shares that she still finds it fascinating that cicadas can come out of the underground after exactly 17 years. “It’s a mystery,” she says.
Manufactured by Kat Vasquez
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