Cicada Video

on Jun 2, 2011
My spontaneous reaction to video a cicada that hitched a ride with us in Nashville.
Anyone that does any gardening knows that these little "buggers" can wipeout some serious vegetation of crops, scrubs and trees. Spending many of my early years on the gulf coast I recall times when these fellows would sing you to sleep at night along with a multitude of other bug friends to join along in the chorus! But it wasn’t necessarily a lullaby melody! The only reason you were able to rest is that the heat exhaustion from playing outdoors and swimming with one eye on the alligator, had you so tuckered out that sleep spontaneously happened after about five minutes!
Cicadas are the largest population by weight of any known herbivore in North America. The female will lay her eggs by cutting slits in the bark of tree and branches. They may do this in several locations and lay several hundred eggs. When the eggs hatch the "nymphs" drop to the ground to burrow into depths of one foot to eight and a half feet. There are several (about 2,500) different species from all around the world. Usually cicadas live in tropical climates but last year Nashville was reminded of their presence beneath our earthen floor. This is a return of the "Great Southern Brood" according to Belmont University, entomologist, Dr. Steve Murphree. He says that they were the largest emergence group of 13 years in our nation. Our next emergence will be in 2024! Imagine how crazy that will be if they grow in numbers! Luck for us gardeners they only come around every 13 years or so!
I understand that Vanderbilt is studying the effects of the cicadas' noise level, which at times can be as loud as a motorcycle or subway approaching at 25 feet and peaking at 85 to 88 decibels according to Dr. Murphree. Many people refer to the cicada as a locust although they are not really related to the true locusts, which are actually a kind of grasshopper. Cicadas are actually related to leafhoppers and spittlebugs. And lucky for me cicadas have proven to be virtually harmless to humans since that is CrAzY me holding this one between my fingers and joining in it’s singing out of desperation!