They seemingly come out of nowhere. Not only thousands, but also countless crickets will lead to a real invasion of insects from the end of April, which are often confused with locusts. Experts assume that there are as many as a trillion (1000 billion, note) animals. The last time such a natural phenomenon occurred was 221 years ago.
The Background: In the Midwestern and Southeastern United States, two populations known as Brood ‘Bread
“No one alive today will experience this again,” Floyd W. Shockley, an entomologist and collections director at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, told the New York Times newspaper. According to the researcher, it will take another 221 years for the geographically adjacent cicada populations to reappear together.
Animals chirp loudly up to 110 decibels
The crickets appear from the end of April. They dig into the ground with their front paws and use their red eyes to look for a place where they can grow in peace. A few days after hatching and molting, the males begin humming to find a mate — a slowly building crescendo that in unison can be up to 110 decibels loud — even louder than a jet plane’s engine.
The shimmering, metallic hum that fills the air four to six weeks after the animals hatch can become so loud as to make conversation on the patio impossible. The loud courtship of men requires iron nerves in people…
Due to climate change, hatching is becoming increasingly earlier
The crickets appear when the ground warms to almost 18 degrees Celsius, which scientists say is happening sooner and sooner due to climate change. Confused with the voracious but unrelated locusts, the insects, on the other hand, are a nuisance rather than biblically economically harmful. However, they can damage young trees and some fruit crops, but this is not widespread and can be prevented, experts say.
There are 15 different broods that appear every few years in a 17 and 13 year cycle. These two broods may even overlap in a small area near central Illinois, but are unlikely to interbreed, says University of Maryland entomologist Paula Shrewsbury.
Expert: “Safe for humans”
Cicadas are not dangerous to humans – on the contrary. “Instead of throwing them in the trash or sweeping them up, people should essentially think of them as free fertilizer for the plants in their gardens and natural areas,” Shockley told The New York Times.
Source: Krone
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