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TechnographPeriodical cicadas: Noisy nuisance or tasty treat?
By Angelina Cole
Posted: 3/16/07 Section: News
Every summer in Illinois, a distinctive buzzing sound fills the hours between sunrise and sunset. This sound belongs to the variety of cicadas that inhabit the state for the summer months to mate and lay eggs.
This summer marks the 17th year in their cycle, and the Champaign-Urbana community can expect more noise than usual.
A majority of these cicadas, known as dog-day cicadas, sport a green and brown body with massive compound eyes arranged similarly to those of a hammerhead shark.
Periodical cicadas make up the rest of the population. They differ from the dog-day cicadas by their distinctive black bodies, red eyes and a life cycle of 13 years in the southern part of Illinois, and a life cycle of 17 years in the northern part of Illinois. Periodical cicadas are divided into broods, a population of cicadas that inhabits a certain region of the state at a certain time of their life cycle.
Central Illinois and the Champaign-Urbana community can expect to hear singing from three different broods. Their mating calls vary from a constant buzzing to a rhythmic drumming sound to a clicking sound.
"They make an unbelievable amount of noise," said Stewart Berlocher, professor of entomology at the University. "If you listen carefully, you can hear the three distinctive songs."
Periodical cicadas earn their name from the distinct 17-year cycle in which they come out of the ground to mate and lay eggs. This distinctive cycle is actually a defense mechanism in order to avoid predators, which are normally on one-year or two-year life cycles.
"They will come out this spring (toward the end of May), from out of the ground, and climb up on trees and other upright objects," said Phil Nixon, extension entomologist for the University. "Their backs will split and the adults will come out. The adults will mate, and in the process, the males sing to attract the females to them. The females hang around for another three weeks (after the males die) and they lay eggs inside twigs. Those eggs will hatch into nymphs, which free-fall to the ground, dig in and for the next sixteen years they sit on roots sucking out the sap."
This summer marks the 17th year in their cycle, and the Champaign-Urbana community can expect more noise than usual.
A majority of these cicadas, known as dog-day cicadas, sport a green and brown body with massive compound eyes arranged similarly to those of a hammerhead shark.
Periodical cicadas make up the rest of the population. They differ from the dog-day cicadas by their distinctive black bodies, red eyes and a life cycle of 13 years in the southern part of Illinois, and a life cycle of 17 years in the northern part of Illinois. Periodical cicadas are divided into broods, a population of cicadas that inhabits a certain region of the state at a certain time of their life cycle.
Central Illinois and the Champaign-Urbana community can expect to hear singing from three different broods. Their mating calls vary from a constant buzzing to a rhythmic drumming sound to a clicking sound.
"They make an unbelievable amount of noise," said Stewart Berlocher, professor of entomology at the University. "If you listen carefully, you can hear the three distinctive songs."
Periodical cicadas earn their name from the distinct 17-year cycle in which they come out of the ground to mate and lay eggs. This distinctive cycle is actually a defense mechanism in order to avoid predators, which are normally on one-year or two-year life cycles.
"They will come out this spring (toward the end of May), from out of the ground, and climb up on trees and other upright objects," said Phil Nixon, extension entomologist for the University. "Their backs will split and the adults will come out. The adults will mate, and in the process, the males sing to attract the females to them. The females hang around for another three weeks (after the males die) and they lay eggs inside twigs. Those eggs will hatch into nymphs, which free-fall to the ground, dig in and for the next sixteen years they sit on roots sucking out the sap."
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