The Red-Eyed Beauties Are Back

The Red Eyed Beauties are BACK…….Yes The Cicadas!

This year, 2013 marks the emergence of the Magicicada Brood II, a periodical 17 (seventeen) year old cicada.  They will make their massive appearance (in the billions) in Maryland, arriving mid April through late May. 

“The Brood II cicada is considered one of the jewels of the insect world for several unique reasons such as their ruby-red eyes, sheer orange vein wings and for their harmonious mating choruses, that often is described as sirens.”, said, Corinne Parks, Director of the Carrie Murray Nature Center.

 

The Brood II uniqueness has also given them a special appeal and cultural status.  Native Americans of the Onondaga Nation in Syracuse NY maintain the oral tradition of being rescued from famine by the periodical cicada.  Today, Americans maintain numerous websites to assist in planning weddings, graduations, and other outdoor ceremonies and activities around the Brood II Cicada emergence.

In Maryland, counties such as Calvert and Anne Arundel will have the largest population of the Brood II cicada.  These harmless insects have poor eyesight, born without any defense mechanisms, live for 17 years underground, only to come up from the earth to mate and die, but in between thriving to stay alive.

“Right now, everything on the planet wants to eat a cicada - foxes, skunks, raccoons, birds and even humans, in 2004 people covered them in chocolate, I prefer them raw.” , said University of Maryland Entomologist Michael Raupp.  The Carrie Murray Nature Center in Baltimore City for example will be hosting a “Cicada Stir Fry” with the motto, “Come On By and Give Our Cicada Stir Fry, A Try.”  …….sounds crunchy!

So gear-up Maryland, we only have 4 to 6 weeks with these red-eyed gems……look on the bright side, the next time we see the Magicicada Brood II will be in 2030.

Cathy Allen, The Green Ambassador is a freelance environmental and green technology writer, environmental media/marketing expert and an award-winning environmentalist.  Her mission is to green the universe environmentally and socially.  To contact Cathy Allen, email: callen@thegreenambassador.org or visit www.thegreenambassador.org.