Year Of The Cicada?!

Yikes! Here on the Backwards Homestead we are being overcome with Cicadas!! They are everywhere!  Anyone who knows me is aware that I HATE flying bugs. Well, hate is a strong word, lets say I strongly dislike them, which again translates into have an unnatural paralyzing fear of  them.... SO, this return of the Cicada is like my worst nightmare as far as bugs are concerned.  I spend my time flailing, flapping and otherwise making everyone around me laugh uncontrollably. Not..Cool!
So, I decided to go out, and try to make peace with the Cicada. Or, at least take pictures of them, with a zoom lens, from a distance. But, there are SO.Many! They are covering the trees, the bushes, the flowers. Their little shells are piling up everywhere, leaving a brown slimy mess when they mix with the rain. Ugh...

Anywho, thought I would share a few of the pictures that we have (Thanks Katrina), and maybe this will at least make them a bit interesting. lol

Wow, how did I EVER fit inside that tiny shell!?

This one has not been out too long, but almost dry and then he will fly away. If he is lucky, he will make it past the chickens! They are having a blast getting full as can be on these things!

Where is the sunscreen?!

 This one is still white, he is not ready to run the chicken gauntlet quite yet! Gotta be quick to make it past those snappy chicken beaks!

Too Slow!

  He didn't get out in time and dried until he was too hard to exit his shell. He is pretty much doomed. Molting is a tricky process and it seems time is of the essence!

NOT my hand, this is Katrina! *shivers*

This one is still IN the shell, a late bloomer I suppose! He better get cracking! hehe! Otherwise he will be stuck in there forever...
Just in case you ever wondered, here is a bit of cicada information! I always called the Cicada, a locust. It was just what I thought they were actually. But, a locust is basically a grasshopper. Responsible for mass plant destruction, plagues etc. Here, is the Desert Locust. A mighty hungry insect

Picture attribution: Copyright © 2011 - 2014 FactSpy.net

 The Cicada, on the other hand, actually do not eat much at all during their short lifespan. They basically climb out of the ground ( in the nymph stage), find their way up a tree, branch or otherwise, shed their skin (molt), sing a while, mate, lay eggs, and die..Yea, All in three to four weeks. That is how long the cicada has to dig out of the ground, claw out of that shell, make a bucket list, and fulfill it. Wow, amazing really if you think about it!

Fresh out of the shell, waiting for wings to open!

 Another interesting tidbit. There are actually cicada that come every year, and then the periodic cicada, which comes every 13 years, or every 17 years. This is said the be the 17year cycle of the cicada. We never notice the annual cicada as much since they come slowly, spread over several months. We hear them in the summer, singing away, but since there aren't huge piles of them we don't give them much thought. The periodic cicada, is way more of an attention getter. Since they have such a large number, that comes in a shorter time frame, they insist on being noticed! Totally different to see a few shells on your apple tree, as opposed to slogging through cicada shells to get to your car! Ok, so I exaggerated! But...it SEEMS that bad!

They're everywhere!!

Well, hope this post was a bit interesting, and here is a link to find a bit more information on the cicada. Cicada. Picture credits to Katrina, she has been diligent in preserving the invasion! Thanks goodness, as I am too busy screaming like a girl to get any good pictures!