We are being attacked by the 17 year cicada!! I really thought we would avoid this plaque of insect but I stand corrected! For those of you unfamiliar, there is an insect called a cicada. A certain species of this insect has a 17 year life cycle. It is year 17 and the bugs are surfacing to mate. They are HUGE, over 2" in size and fly around. Once they mate, the female lays the eggs in trees. The adults die once they have mated and fullfilled their duties. The larvae then hatch and fall to the ground where they mature over the course of 17 years!!! Crazy huh! I assumed we wouldn't see any because our house is new and this area (my immediate subdivision) doesn't contain a lot of trees. You see the trees have to be at least 17 years old to have cicadas emerging from the ground around the trees. But it appears the insects travel great distances. Have wings - will travel; and our heading our way from neighboring subdivisions!
Well- The cicada can harm small trees and arborvitae so i have to go get some netting to protect my trees!!!! These insects have a mating call that is really loud and sounds like a buzzing noise all day long. They aren't even that close to us and we have only seen small numbers of them. I can't imagine how loud the noise will be when they are close and in large numbers. Luckily- they are only around for 4-6 weeks!!!!