Jump to content
  • Member Statistics

    17,601
    Total Members
    7,904
    Most Online
    ArlyDude
    Newest Member
    ArlyDude
    Joined

Cicadas 2021 - Brood X


FXW176
 Share

Recommended Posts

18 minutes ago, vastateofmind said:

Thanks for this...I'm getting good pics and video of individual, or small groups of, the periodicals, but it's hard to record the sound of the general chorusing like you did here! Great capture.

I said it yesterday, and will say it again -- I find the periodical cicada song pretty soothing. I know it can, and likely will, get much louder than what we're all hearing right now, but I still like it. It reminds me of a higher pitched version of an Alexa skill called "Warp Core," which is a looping recording of the low, ambient engine "thrum" of the Enterprise-D (from Star Trek: The Next Generation) while traveling at warp speed. It's a great ambient sound (the periodicals AND/OR the Warp Core loop) to work to throughout the day.  :)  #GeekAlert

Well, you do know that the Enterprise-D ran on cicada juice, right?!  Billions of them living in the warp drives! :lol:

(ETA:  They worked better than tribbles! :D)

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, fourseasons said:

 

43 minutes ago, mappy said:

yeah, the fungus. NPR had an article about it too

I went back out the tree where I saw it, and it wasn't there. But it was def dead when we saw it the first time. 

I heard some about this, too...really weird!

A fungus that turns you into a sex crazed zombie!!  Sounds like a bad 1950s B-rated sci-fi flick that @ravensrule might recommend! :D

  • Like 1
  • Sad 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

For those who know North Baltimore, I walked tonight along Stony Run path, cut through Gilman over to Cathedral of Mary our Queen and then across Charles into Homeland and then past College of Notre Dame and back down toward Stony Run path via Wyndhurst.

Along Stony Run path, there is just very little to no evidence of cicadas - and that is a heavily forested area that has been there a long time. It is puzzling as hell. As you approach Charles and cross over into Homeland, 1/4 mile to the east of the Stony Run path, there you find the cicada invasion long foretold. Crossing back over Charles and heading home along Wyndhurst, the cicadas go back to few and far between.

Yes, it is shadier along Stony Run path but we certainly have been warm enough now that should not be as much of an issue (the cooler ground temps). So, I am asking the room - is the abundance of natural cicada eaters that exist in a forested area (birds, other varmints, etc) enough to explain why so many fewer cicadas in that area compared to the Homeland neighborhood (which, while treed, is not forest)? Or still just too cold ground temps under the canopy to see eruptions yet? 

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So that small wooded area across the street from me apparently got warm enough over the past couple of days. After no indication of anything other than a lot of holes for awhile, they are now coming out in droves there (see images). Also seeing widespread nymphs emerging around several trees where I am. Pretty certain I heard them singing late this afternoon too. 

20210520210053_4G6A0406.thumb.JPG.af22e597b34a84120e13c58831bfb120.JPG

20210520210228_4G6A0408.thumb.JPG.ac6f952be78551999ae7629aa217e13b.JPG

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

They're not emerging at all IM immediate BY so far. Plenty of sun here, but also a sandier soil...however today I heard them in the distance. Very cool. AND one, lone adult landed on a windowscreen right in front of me. So they're nearby and closing in. I haven't had a chance to explore around, unfortunately, maybe tomorrow.

  • Sad 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, Always in Zugzwang said:

 

I heard some about this, too...really weird!

A fungus that turns you into a sex crazed zombie!!  Sounds like a bad 1950s B-rated sci-fi flick that @ravensrule might recommend! :D

My dad went to the ER last night and has been admitted.  I've spent the past few hours telling him about these cicadas just to keep him entertained from over 2000 miles away.

Although he may not tell the male RN about them.

  • Sad 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, wxtrix said:

after hopeful sounds earlier this week i am now beginning to lose hope. at least i had 2004 in DC.

yeah, i was hoping to find more yesterday after a warm day and nothing new. blah. 

  • Sad 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Maestrobjwa said:

Ah so that's what ya look like :lol:(somehow I'm always amused at seeing the faces to the usernames, lol)

I know, right? But I've always loved @H2O's avatar...it brings up great memories of watching Harvey Korman on all the Carol Burnette reruns I grew up with.  :)  Also, his video of periodical carcasses surrounding the base of his tree mirrors that of two mature trees on my property. The last several mornings, the tree trunks themselves, as far up as about 8-10 feet have been covered with newly molted cicadas drying in the morning sun.

Also have been hearing sustained chorusing since about Tuesday (not unlike the vid that @Paleocene shared a few posts back), and getting a bit louder/stronger each day but it still comes and goes in waves...and sometimes in the middle of the day it just stops. I just searched but didn't find a definitive answer -- do the periodicals sing all day long, just at daybreak and nightfall mostly, or on some other schedule? 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dropped the kiddo off at school and cicadas are everywhere there. The few trees lining the parking lot were covered, shells and nymphs all over the curb and so many dead in the parking lot itself. 

Makes me think my backyard just won't see any :( 

  • Sad 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, fourseasons said:

My dad went to the ER last night and has been admitted.  I've spent the past few hours telling him about these cicadas just to keep him entertained from over 2000 miles away.

Although he may not tell the male RN about them.

OMG...so sorry to hear that!  I hope your dad will be OK...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, mappy said:

Dropped the kiddo off at school and cicadas are everywhere there. The few trees lining the parking lot were covered, shells and nymphs all over the curb and so many dead in the parking lot itself. 

Makes me think my backyard just won't see any :( 

You guys are at a slightly higher elevation though, right? As high as where, say, PSU lives? I wonder if that has anything to do with it....

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, mappy said:

Dropped the kiddo off at school and cicadas are everywhere there. The few trees lining the parking lot were covered, shells and nymphs all over the curb and so many dead in the parking lot itself. 

Makes me think my backyard just won't see any :( 

It's very odd how they seem to all come out in one place but not another.  I guess it depends on where the eggs were laid in 2004, among other things.  They also seem to come up at different times, even places very close to each other.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, vastateofmind said:

You guys are at a slightly higher elevation though, right? As high as where, say, PSU lives? I wonder if that has anything to do with it....

The school is actually slightly higher elevation than I am, not by much. 

2 minutes ago, Always in Zugzwang said:

It's very odd how they seem to all come out in one place but not another.  I guess it depends on where the eggs were laid in 2004, among other things.  They also seem to come up at different times, even places very close to each other.

Her school is a minute drive from my house, and definitely a noticeable uptick this morning compared to yesterday morning when I dropped her off. I could also see them along fences and curbs as I drove home. 

Ive been meaning to find an aerial image from 2004 for my area to see what trees were here, since we were not living here back then. We have some old and well established trees in the yard, so one would think they'd be here. But just not seeing them :( 

  • Sad 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, mappy said:

The school is actually slightly higher elevation than I am, not by much. 

Her school is a minute drive from my house, and definitely a noticeable uptick this morning compared to yesterday morning when I dropped her off. I could also see them along fences and curbs as I drove home. 

Ive been meaning to find an aerial image from 2004 for my area to see what trees were here, since we were not living here back then. We have some old and well established trees in the yard, so one would think they'd be here. But just not seeing them :( 

Interesting.  I wonder if they are very sensitive to precise soil temperatures too.  So if it's just warm enough a mile away where your daughter's school is, they are coming out...but your place is maybe just below the threshold still?  Something like that.  Or if it's been fairly undisturbed there in the past 17 years.  Where I am, I saw a lot come out on like 2 or 3 large trees, over the course of a few nights.  But this wooded area just across the street, which is pretty undisturbed...nothing, despite noticing a LOT of holes in the ground.  Then suddenly last night, they were coming out in that wooded area all over the place.  I can only guess that it was a hair cooler there until now (with a couple of very warm days).  And those emerging looked to have become more widespread in the area I'm at last night (but that's a subjective take).

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, mappy said:

The school is actually slightly higher elevation than I am, not by much. 

Her school is a minute drive from my house, and definitely a noticeable uptick this morning compared to yesterday morning when I dropped her off. I could also see them along fences and curbs as I drove home. 

Ive been meaning to find an aerial image from 2004 for my area to see what trees were here, since we were not living here back then. We have some old and well established trees in the yard, so one would think they'd be here. But just not seeing them :( 

i still think its just temps.  for whatever reason things are just a little slower.  And while you might not get a bunch of crawlers you might get a lot of fliers and they will flock to your trees.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Always in Zugzwang said:

Interesting.  I wonder if they are very sensitive to precise soil temperatures too.  So if it's just warm enough a mile away where your daughter's school is, they are coming out...but your place is maybe just below the threshold still?  Something like that.  Or if it's been fairly undisturbed there in the past 17 years.  Where I am, I saw a lot come out on like 2 or 3 large trees, over the course of a few nights.  But this wooded area just across the street, which is pretty undisturbed...nothing, despite noticing a LOT of holes in the ground.  Then suddenly last night, they were coming out in that wooded area all over the place.  I can only guess that it was a hair cooler there until now (with a couple of very warm days).  And those emerging looked to have become more widespread in the area I'm at last night (but that's a subjective take).

 

7 minutes ago, H2O said:

i still think its just temps.  for whatever reason things are just a little slower.  And while you might not get a bunch of crawlers you might get a lot of fliers and they will flock to your trees.

I did a quick walk around the yard, found more shells and an adult on one of the pines out front (technically the tree belongs to our neighbor). Same tree I found shells and the half adult earlier this week. But my big oak tree in the backyard is empty. Weeping cherry out front does have holes in the ground at the base, but I didn't see any on the tree itself.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

24 minutes ago, mappy said:

Ive been meaning to find an aerial image from 2004 for my area to see what trees were here, since we were not living here back then. We have some old and well established trees in the yard, so one would think they'd be here. But just not seeing them :( 

I've been wondering whether those eggs/nymphs that dropped from trees that have been since removed may not have survived if the roots they were feeding off had died.

Might not matter if the tree was removed a year or so before emergence, but there must be a point at which those roots don't provide the xylem they need. Maybe they can burrow elsewhere to find other food sources? 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...