Maybe this title betrays a bit of an exaggeration. They aren’t literally everywhere (yet) but they are popping up around us in Indiana and due to their large size, they cannot really be ignored. Unless you’re one of those people who don’t notice things…
Cicadas are best known for the loud mating calls they make and the creepy husks they leave laying around after, as nymphs, they emerge from the ground to finish their development clinging to a tree or wall.
Once they’ve fastened themselves to a spot about 1-5 feet from the ground they exit their old exoskeletons as ugly, awkward, beady-eyed creatures. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not hating on cicadas, I find their weird appearance to be endearing. I'm sure, for instance, they have a great sense of humor or something… or beautiful minds etc. But I know beauty (which is subjective, I get it) and to me, those creatures ain’t it… It think it really boils down to their red eyes.
I am pretty sure that the husk I’m including in this post belongs to the cicada included here. Two nights ago I saw only the husk on the outside wall with something pushing out from the inside. The next morning this mature adult was hanging on the wall just a few feet above this empty husk (I regret not taking a picture of the two at once). Based on that situational evidence, I am concluding that they were one in the same being, at some point.
I also found these nifty wings laying around my patio the other day following a particularly heavy rain. I suspected they belonged to a cicada and since they were in such good condition and really quite beautiful (see, individually they have some great features) I decided to capture them.
The cicadas emerging this year are quite the mysterious bunch. These guys should be on a 17-year cycle and aren’t due to appear for another four years. Indeed, I remember the previous influx of cicadas from the summer of 2004. In particular I remember riding a bike downhill one hot summer day and getting thwacked in the face with an unsuspecting “Sunday flier.” They are harmless, technically, until you get hit in the face with one. They don’t bite or sting, they are just awkward when in flight and don’t really care about crashing into things, or rather, they don’t having the appropriate aviation skills to get out of the way fast enough to avoid collisions with unexpected things that cut them off.
But that was only 13 years ago… The cicadas shouldn’t be back until 2021. It’s possible that this “round” will just be a hiccup and we won’t have the same numbers emerge as a full 17-year cycle. But we’re just at the start of things. We will just have to wait and see what happens as the summer progresses. Experts have been weighing in on the reasons behind this anomaly. For instance, see sciencealert.com and popsci.com’s articles on the subject.
Here's the husk through the camera's artsy-fartsy "poster effect" filter.