Reading a periodical vs Periodical Cicadas

periodicals which we read.  A periodical is a magazine, newspaper, or other form of reading material which is published as we all know at regular intervals.  

This type of periodical we are all enthused with as it is delivered to our door and we really want to see what it has to say.......BUT

Another periodical has emerged to light this year, which I wish would just disappear back into the ground where it came from......The noise flat gives me a headache.  And now that it is getting cooler, it is lessening, thank God for this favor. 

2,500 different species of these noisy things around the world, and I wish they would pick some other place to have a thirteen year festival other than where I live. 

A few weeks ago, I noticed something strange happening to my trees, I wasn't sure what it was, had never seen it before .....  looked like some kind of nobby thing on them...As the days progressed, small holes started appearing everywhere I looked in the bare dirt....my first thought was oh no, baby snakes or something....Ah, I would have been happy if that were the case. 

Now, today, there are empty shells hanging all over my house, they have crawled in through the cracks at the bottom of the door in the basement and are hanging on the walls.  Except when they enter the house, they are dead within a day due to proper insecticide in here.  Does anyone know what it is like walking across your floor and hearing a crunch under your foot, and looking down at the sole of your shoe finding a really large dead squashed bug on it??   Well, the first time, it was gross, but after several days of this, I just sweep them up and deposit them outside.....the dogs can't figure out what they are either...

Why is this??   Well, in researching all over the place to find out why they are here, it seems that we have periodical cicada all over the place.   It seems they reappear every 13 years here in the area I live in and this does appear to be the thirteenth year...Why thirteen?  Who knows, but I am sure God had a plan for this when He created them.  

As the day heats up, so does their noise.  And it is so loud it actually gives me a headache believe it or not.  Thank God it is nearing nightfall, they are going to sleep or something....It is again quiet outside.  

It seems this will not be the only invasion this year, for in addition to the periodicals, soon the dog day cicada will be on the scene as well as the summer progresses.  I think I need to invest in ear plugs if this keeps up and it surely will from what I have discovered.   

It seems that the periodical cicada spends thirteen years underground, eating the sap from tree roots and then emerge in a massive explosion......to eat the leaves of the trees, dig in the bark and in looking at statistics for this menace, it seems that literally tens or hundreds of thousands of these insects can inhabit a single acre of land.  

They are capable of living underground for quite a long time and then reappearing creating the loudest noise you have ever in your life heard.   (The dog day cicada actually comes out every summer during the hottest part of the year)    So in learning all of this, I have a noisy summer to look forward to.  

to trees, shrubs, and cultivated crops.......damage to trees is extensive as this is where the female lays her eggs deep in the bark of the tree,    When the eggs hatch, they burrow underground and feed on the tree roots.    Of course, the damage they cause your eardrums can be extensive as well, not to mention the extra advil for the headache.   They have gotten quiet, but there is a dull ache in my head....

They are actually eaten in several parts of the world, and those people can sure come here in my backyard for a good harvest,  the amount would feed I am sure all the people in China for several days at least.....The females seemed to be the preferred insect of choice as they are supposedly "meatier"  Yuk...have you had your cicada today???   Yuk...

Greece, China, Maylasia, Burma, Latin America and in the Congo, they are eaten on a regular basis....and the Chinese use the shells of them for traditional medicine.  ....At the rate they are appearing here, maybe our Doctors might look into this as some of the medicines they are producing are actually harmful to human beings.   The Chinese people actually regard these insects as powerful symbols of rebirth......well, could you live underground in a hole for thirteen years and come out making all this racket???  

Missouri witnessed the emergence of a particularly large brood of 13-year cicadas in 1998, so 2011 promises to be a noisy spring in much of the state. This year's emergence is expected to cover most of Missouri. The Bootheel and part of northwest Missouri will escape the phenomenon. If this disappoints you, cheer up. The existence of multiple broods means you don't actually have to wait 13 or 17 years for the next emergence. Other single-brood emergences are expected in northern Missouri in 2014 and in west-central and southeastern Missouri in 2015.   (taken from the Sprout and About,  St Louis MO)

The Cicada has been around for thousands of years, but until this one, I did not know much about them...I wish I still did not know much about them....but if you want to protect your trees and shrubbery,  you can use cheesecloth, mosquito netting or netting with a mesh of smaller than 1/4 inch to protect small trees from the females digging in to lay more eggs.   A fascinating insect only because of it's history, food source and ability to disappear for years at a time and them emerge from the ground.   And yes,  you have probably stepped on a hundred million of them and never knew it before.  

Me, I prefer reading the periodical which comes in the mail any day of the week over the noise I am listening to which threatens my hearing on a daily basis now, and the dog day cicada is right on their tails, due to appear quite quickly.....Will we all be deaf at the end of the summer?  Probably around here anyhow.

Aloha......

It seems like we are in for a noisy summer.   Got earplugs???