Nature at its craziest: Trillions of cicadas about to emerge

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Nature at its craziest: Trillions of cicadas about to emerge

A cicada nymph moves in the grass, Sunday, May 2, 2021, in Frederick, Md. Within days, a couple weeks at most, the cicadas of Brood X (the X is the Roman numeral for 10) will emerge after 17 years underground. There are many broods of periodic cicadas that appear on rigid schedules in different years, but this is one of the largest and most noticeable. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
University of Maryland entomologists Michael Raupp and Paula Shrewsbury turn a shovel of dirt to pick out cicada nymphs in a suburban backyard in Columbia, Md., Tuesday, April 13, 2021. The cicadas will mostly come out at dusk to try to avoid everything that wants to eat them, squiggling out of holes in the ground. They’ll try to climb up trees or anything vertical. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
University of Maryland entomologists Michael Raupp and Paula Shrewsbury sift through a shovel of dirt to pick out cicada nymphs in a suburban backyard in Columbia, Md., Tuesday, April 13, 2021. “You’ve got a creature that spends 17 years in a COVID-like existence, isolated underground sucking on plant sap, right? In the 17th year these teenagers are going to come out of the earth by the billions if not trillions. They’re going to try to best everything on the planet that wants to eat them during this critical period of the nighttime when they’re just trying to grow up, they’re just trying to be adults, shed that skin, get their wings, go up into the treetops, escape their predators,” Raupp says. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
A cicada nymph is seen in an emergence tunnel in a shovel of dirt in a suburban backyard in Columbia, Md., Tuesday, April 13, 2021. America is the only place in the world that has periodic cicadas that stay underground for either 13 or 17 years, says entomologist John Cooley of the University of Connecticut. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
University of Maryland entomologist Paula Shrewsbury displays a handful of cicada nymphs found in a shovel of dirt in a suburban backyard in Columbia, Md., Tuesday, April 13, 2021. This is not an invasion. The cicadas have been here the entire time, quietly feeding off tree roots underground, not asleep, just moving slowly waiting for their body clocks tell them it is time to come out and breed. They’ve been in America for millions of years, far longer than people. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
An emergence hole is seen the yard of environmental scientist Rebeccah Waterworth on Thursday, April 22, 2021, in Laurel, Md. The bugs only emerge in large numbers when the ground temperature reaches 64 degrees. That’s happening earlier in the calendar in recent years because of climate change, says entomologist Gene Kritsky. Before 1950 they used to emerge at the end of May; now they’re coming out weeks earlier. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
A cicada nymph is seen at the bottom of an evacuation tunnel, Sunday, May 2, 2021, in Frederick, Md. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
A cicada nymph crawls up from the soil, Sunday, May 2, 2021, in Frederick, Md. The cicadas will mostly come out at dusk to try to avoid everything that wants to eat them, squiggling out of holes in the ground. They’ll try to climb up trees or anything vertical. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
A cicada nymph sits on the ground, Sunday, May 2, 2021, in Frederick, Md. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Trinadee Jenkins photographs the canopy in a wooded area to gather data for an undergraduate class project to measure urban heat island effects on time and density of cicada emergence, Thursday, April 22, 2021, near the University of Maryland Campus, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
A cicada nymph wiggles it's from legs as is is held, Sunday, May 2, 2021, in Frederick, Md. People tend to be scared of the wrong insects, says University of Illinois entomologist May Berenbaum. The mosquito kills more people than any other animals because of malaria and other diseases. Yet some people really dread the cicada emergence, she said. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Virginia Borda gathers soil temperatures at eight inches below the surface as part of an undergraduate class project measuring soil temperatures to test for urban heat island effects on time and density of cicada emergence, Tuesday, April 20, 2021, on the University of Maryland Campus in College Park, Md. The bugs only emerge in large numbers when the ground temperature reaches 64 degrees. That’s happening earlier in the calendar in recent years because of climate change, says entomologist Gene Kritsky. Before 1950 they used to emerge at the end of May; now they’re coming out weeks earlier. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Virginia Borda gathers soil, temperature, location and other data at eight inches below the surface as part of an undergraduate class project to measure urban heat island effects on time and density of cicada emergence, Tuesday, April 20, 2021, on the University of Maryland Campus in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
After returning the cicada nymphs where they found them, University of Maryland entomologists Michael Raupp and Paula Shrewsbury gently pat the dirt over them in a suburban backyard in Columbia, Md., Tuesday, April 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Nature at its craziest: Trillions of cicadas about to emerge

A cicada nymph moves in the grass, Sunday, May 2, 2021, in Frederick, Md. Within days, a couple weeks at most, the cicadas of Brood X (the X is the Roman numeral for 10) will emerge after 17 years underground. There are many broods of periodic cicadas that appear on rigid schedules in different years, but this is one of the largest and most noticeable. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
University of Maryland entomologists Michael Raupp and Paula Shrewsbury turn a shovel of dirt to pick out cicada nymphs in a suburban backyard in Columbia, Md., Tuesday, April 13, 2021. The cicadas will mostly come out at dusk to try to avoid everything that wants to eat them, squiggling out of holes in the ground. They’ll try to climb up trees or anything vertical. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
University of Maryland entomologists Michael Raupp and Paula Shrewsbury sift through a shovel of dirt to pick out cicada nymphs in a suburban backyard in Columbia, Md., Tuesday, April 13, 2021. “You’ve got a creature that spends 17 years in a COVID-like existence, isolated underground sucking on plant sap, right? In the 17th year these teenagers are going to come out of the earth by the billions if not trillions. They’re going to try to best everything on the planet that wants to eat them during this critical period of the nighttime when they’re just trying to grow up, they’re just trying to be adults, shed that skin, get their wings, go up into the treetops, escape their predators,” Raupp says. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
A cicada nymph is seen in an emergence tunnel in a shovel of dirt in a suburban backyard in Columbia, Md., Tuesday, April 13, 2021. America is the only place in the world that has periodic cicadas that stay underground for either 13 or 17 years, says entomologist John Cooley of the University of Connecticut. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
University of Maryland entomologist Paula Shrewsbury displays a handful of cicada nymphs found in a shovel of dirt in a suburban backyard in Columbia, Md., Tuesday, April 13, 2021. This is not an invasion. The cicadas have been here the entire time, quietly feeding off tree roots underground, not asleep, just moving slowly waiting for their body clocks tell them it is time to come out and breed. They’ve been in America for millions of years, far longer than people. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
An emergence hole is seen the yard of environmental scientist Rebeccah Waterworth on Thursday, April 22, 2021, in Laurel, Md. The bugs only emerge in large numbers when the ground temperature reaches 64 degrees. That’s happening earlier in the calendar in recent years because of climate change, says entomologist Gene Kritsky. Before 1950 they used to emerge at the end of May; now they’re coming out weeks earlier. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
A cicada nymph is seen at the bottom of an evacuation tunnel, Sunday, May 2, 2021, in Frederick, Md. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
A cicada nymph crawls up from the soil, Sunday, May 2, 2021, in Frederick, Md. The cicadas will mostly come out at dusk to try to avoid everything that wants to eat them, squiggling out of holes in the ground. They’ll try to climb up trees or anything vertical. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
A cicada nymph sits on the ground, Sunday, May 2, 2021, in Frederick, Md. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Trinadee Jenkins photographs the canopy in a wooded area to gather data for an undergraduate class project to measure urban heat island effects on time and density of cicada emergence, Thursday, April 22, 2021, near the University of Maryland Campus, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
A cicada nymph wiggles it's from legs as is is held, Sunday, May 2, 2021, in Frederick, Md. People tend to be scared of the wrong insects, says University of Illinois entomologist May Berenbaum. The mosquito kills more people than any other animals because of malaria and other diseases. Yet some people really dread the cicada emergence, she said. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Virginia Borda gathers soil temperatures at eight inches below the surface as part of an undergraduate class project measuring soil temperatures to test for urban heat island effects on time and density of cicada emergence, Tuesday, April 20, 2021, on the University of Maryland Campus in College Park, Md. The bugs only emerge in large numbers when the ground temperature reaches 64 degrees. That’s happening earlier in the calendar in recent years because of climate change, says entomologist Gene Kritsky. Before 1950 they used to emerge at the end of May; now they’re coming out weeks earlier. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Virginia Borda gathers soil, temperature, location and other data at eight inches below the surface as part of an undergraduate class project to measure urban heat island effects on time and density of cicada emergence, Tuesday, April 20, 2021, on the University of Maryland Campus in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
After returning the cicada nymphs where they found them, University of Maryland entomologists Michael Raupp and Paula Shrewsbury gently pat the dirt over them in a suburban backyard in Columbia, Md., Tuesday, April 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
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