cicada_invasion

[K9sH3]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070520/ap_on_re_us/cicada_invasion


YUM....

:beerchug:

[Hmmm2]

I remember visiting the in-laws a few years back in New Jersey and the cicadas were out. It was an infestation. The sounds were amazing and really pretty interesting. They are the weirdest looking things. I'm just glad they didn't fly into us. :eek: It's quiet for a few minutes and then all of a sudden they start up with this extremely loud sound all at the same time. Then they stop and start again.

[BlueHUMMERH2]

One of the coolest things I ever experienced when it happened in 2004. There were no breaks in the noise, and there were so many dead cicadas the roads had oil tracks where the tires of the cars traveled. I wish I could see another emergence soon.

My only reminder:

http://shutter09.pictures.aol.com/data/pictures/15/003/7F/DF/13/77/NFGIF11wHWNmwzYXclMzAksb9zb37mIE0300.jpg

[RubHer Yellow Ducky]

Swarms of cicadas emerging in Midwest

By TARA BURGHART, Associated Press Writer Sun May 20, 4:48 PM ET


CHICAGO - Coming soon: Brood XIII. It sounds like a bad horror movie. But it's actually the name of the billions of cicadas expected to emerge this month in parts of the Midwest after spending 17 years underground.
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The red-eyed, shrimp-sized, flying insects don't bite or sting. But they are known for mating calls that produce a din that can overpower ringing telephones, lawn mowers and power tools.

Brood XIII is expected across northern Illinois, and in parts of Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana. Cicadas live only about 30 days as adults, and their main goal is mating.

They don't harm humans, although they are clumsy and might fly into people. Birds, squirrels and pets, especially dogs, love to eat them, and they are high in protein.

"They're going to have quite a meal. It's going to be like Thanksgiving for them," said Tom Tiddens, supervisor for plant health care at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

They are periodical cicadas, which are only found in the eastern half of North America. The annual, or dog-day cicadas, that appear every summer are common around the world.

The last massive emergence of periodical cicadas was in 2004, when Brood X emerged after 17 years underground in parts of 15 Eastern states. Some broods emerge after 13 years.

As nymphs burrowing underground, cicadas suck sap from tree roots. Almost all members of a group, or brood, burst from the ground within a couple days of each other.

They quickly climb the nearest vertical surface to molt and unroll their wings. In some heavily wooded areas, as many as 1.5 million cicadas per acre will crowd onto trees, expert say.

"It's one of the greatest insect emergences on Earth," said Daniel Summers, an entomologist at The Field Museum.

A single male's shrill courtship call can reach 90 decibels, equivalent to a kitchen blender. That could sour plans for outdoor events over the next few weeks.

Ravinia Festival, a 103-year-old music festival held north of Chicago, revised its schedule to avoid classical musicians having to compete with the insects, said festival president and CEO Welz Kauffman.

June will see more pop bands outdoors, a few concerts moved indoors and a visit from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. "With 350 voices on stage, they can hold their own against the bugs," Kauffman said.

At the Chicago Botanic Garden, spokeswoman Gloria Ciaccio joked that her advice for brides holding outdoor weddings there will be to put the tent flaps down and turn the music up.

An Illinois company that provides ice sculptures has turned down several outdoor parties over the next month. That's because of what happened when Nadeau Ice Sculptures owner Jim Nadeau delivered a swan statue to a wedding in 1990, during the area's last emergence of the periodical cicadas.

"We put our tray down and immediately the cicadas came off the ground and attacked the ice. Literally, it was a moving sculpture, this big black ugly mass of cicadas constantly moving," said Nadeau.

"I don't want to talk myself out of work, but that was just too gross," he said.


Exactly when the cicadas will emerge is a subject of debate, although there is agreement they emerge once the soil temperature is consistently 64 to 65 degrees for several days. Biologists and insect experts predict the cicadas will emerge between Tuesday and June 1.

The best place to see ? and hear ? the cicadas will be forest preserves, golf courses and any land where there are older trees where the soil has been undisturbed since 1990.

Freelance writer David Hammond runs the LTHForum, a Chicago-based Internet site devoted to culinary matters, and his "foodie" friends want to see what the cicadas taste like.

The insects are eaten in other parts of the world, with descriptions of the taste ranging from shrimp to canned asparagus to not much at all.

No recipe has been decided upon yet, but Hammond assumes they will be fried and perhaps accompanied by a dip or salsa.

"Honestly, they'll probably go down easier that way," he said. "Who knows? Maybe we'll love it. We may have to travel around the country as infestations occur." ___

MIGHT SOLVE the PET FOOD Problem...

[frenzy1]

Glad we don't have them over here !

Frenzy
Belgium

[K9sH3]

When I was a kid, we would catch them and tie strings to them and fly them around :jump: :jump:

And on their wings there is a "P" or a "w". I never knew why.

:beerchug:

[mdoyle]

Nature is pretty amazing, just imagine what it would take to replicate that 17 year cycle with mechanical and electrical technology on that scale, minus any outside monitoring?

I was in the Ozarks back in the 70's when the cicada's emerged one summer, they were everywhere- as in just about every tree trunk had dozens of these semi-transparent exo-skeleton's attached to them.

[Agriv8r]

:popcorn:

[K9sH3]

:popcorn:


Damn, way to much salt.

Try mine I use sea salt :popcorn:

[Hmmm2]

Damn, way to much salt.

Try mine I use sea salt :popcorn:

RYD uses Kosher salt. ;)

[dеiтайожни]

RYD uses Kosher salt. ;)

I accidentally bought kosher breaded mushrooms and I'm afraid to eat them, want them RYD? Also, I ate some weird looking mushrooms that came in my cashew chicken the other day and I had a 4 hour "dream" about time travel, twas odd.

[RubHer Yellow Ducky]

RYD uses Kosher salt. ;)

KOSHER, in relation to salt, means PURE. Nothing is added to it. No iodine, no anti-caking agent. Just Good Pure Salt (kinda like SOME Sea Salts you can buy.

PLUS

Some Rabbi makes a buck or two saying it KOSHER...

[RubHer Yellow Ducky]

I accidentally bought kosher breaded mushrooms and I'm afraid to eat them, want them RYD? Also, I ate some weird looking mushrooms that came in my cashew chicken the other day and I had a 4 hour "dream" about time travel, twas odd.

If you eat them you will lose your FORSKIN... LOL

I guess mushrooms are Kosher and, well the breading I guess would have to be certified Kosher.

Meaning it would have to be made in a Kosher or Kashrut manner. Many of the Kosher Laws are written in the Old Testement in the Book of Leviticus...

Am I the Only HEBREW on this forum.... ? you all are lucky to have me here to keep you KOSHER

[K9sH3]

I accidentally bought kosher breaded mushrooms and I'm afraid to eat them, want them RYD? Also, I ate some weird looking mushrooms that came in my cashew chicken the other day and I had a 4 hour "dream" about time travel, twas odd.

:jump:

Yeah sure, You stoped off the Beachline, on your way to have your wheels powder coated, and went picking where the cows are on the Brevard county line.

:beerchug:

[Agriv8r]

twas???? must still be the mushrooms...