WEBVTT - How Cicadas Work 0:00:01.000 --> 0:00:04.480 Welcome to stuff you should know front House stuff Works 0:00:04.480 --> 0:00:13.520 dot com. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. 0:00:13.680 --> 0:00:16.239 There's Charles w Chuck Bryant, and I put the two 0:00:16.239 --> 0:00:18.720 of us together. But it's in a room with a 0:00:18.720 --> 0:00:22.200 two dollar I kea lamp and three dollar I key 0:00:22.239 --> 0:00:25.959 at table and a thousand dollars with the microphones. Yes 0:00:26.239 --> 0:00:29.320 that's what matters. And Jerry, and you've got yourself stuff 0:00:29.320 --> 0:00:32.680 you should have and a million dollars worth the Jerry. Yeah, 0:00:32.760 --> 0:00:35.440 she's just like one day. That's right. You got a 0:00:35.440 --> 0:00:39.920 good intro for this, No do you no? Just talkxicatas. 0:00:40.560 --> 0:00:43.680 This is what I was thinking. Um, I guess if 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:47.360 you'd like me to give an intro, it would be 0:00:47.400 --> 0:00:54.080 something like, Chuck, have you ever experienced summer? I have 0:00:54.280 --> 0:00:57.680 in the South? Summer in the South? For me, Cicada's 0:00:57.760 --> 0:01:01.880 I associate cicada sicot h either one. You know what 0:01:01.880 --> 0:01:06.880 they say, Josh, what you say Cicada? I say Cicada. 0:01:08.080 --> 0:01:11.959 I say Cicada. Yeah it is Cicada. Actually, I have 0:01:12.000 --> 0:01:14.119 a very quick funny story. I have a friend named 0:01:14.120 --> 0:01:16.319 Andrew who had a friend who tried out as a 0:01:16.360 --> 0:01:19.560 singer for some Broadway show or something, and she did 0:01:19.600 --> 0:01:22.119 that song, but she did not had never heard the song, 0:01:22.200 --> 0:01:27.440 I think, and she sang, you say potato, I say potato, 0:01:28.800 --> 0:01:30.959 and didn't know. And that was how she auditioned, like 0:01:31.040 --> 0:01:33.560 she just had read it, she guess. So she got 0:01:33.640 --> 0:01:35.039 it wrong or read it or something, and it was, 0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:39.280 you know, potato, potato, tomato, tomato. And I got a 0:01:39.280 --> 0:01:41.720 good laugh out of the people. That's a good story, Yeah, 0:01:41.720 --> 0:01:45.039 I thought so. I've always that's a good one. Andrews listening, 0:01:45.080 --> 0:01:48.440 He probably not. Hello, Hey, how's it going? Alright? So 0:01:48.560 --> 0:01:51.480 moving on? Sorry cicadas, Yes, cicada. I think we should 0:01:51.520 --> 0:01:54.280 agree to say cicadas. Well, it is cicada. I was 0:01:54.320 --> 0:01:58.280 just cooving, okay. Um, And if you're talking about cicada 0:01:58.720 --> 0:02:01.240 you have probably a certain type of mind. But there 0:02:01.280 --> 0:02:04.480 are actually, there are a number of species I've seen 0:02:04.760 --> 0:02:08.800 anywhere between two depending on who you ask. There you go, 0:02:09.080 --> 0:02:12.880 um and uh, the one though that that I think 0:02:12.919 --> 0:02:15.400 everybody thinks of when they think cicada, especially when they 0:02:15.400 --> 0:02:21.720 think cicada infestation. As um, the magic acada is the 0:02:21.760 --> 0:02:26.480 species name. Yeah, it's uh, their periodical cicadas. And that's 0:02:26.520 --> 0:02:28.720 what we're going to be concentrating on, right, And those 0:02:28.720 --> 0:02:30.760 are the ones that are all over the news. If 0:02:30.760 --> 0:02:32.720 you're on the Eastern seaboard right now, you've been hearing 0:02:32.760 --> 0:02:37.160 them or hearing about them. Cicada invasion, Cicada invasion. And 0:02:37.200 --> 0:02:41.720 in fact, if you go to uh, magic Cicada, that's 0:02:41.720 --> 0:02:45.400 all I say it. I like magic Acada dot org. 0:02:45.760 --> 0:02:48.520 There's a there's a map there that shows you where 0:02:48.520 --> 0:02:52.000 they are currently hatching. Yeah, they have a lot of 0:02:52.000 --> 0:02:54.840 great resources on that site. Yeah. People get really excited 0:02:54.840 --> 0:02:58.080 because it's such a weird, freaky unique thing. Yeah, it is. 0:02:58.120 --> 0:03:01.840 That happens every or well that's not true. It happens, 0:03:02.560 --> 0:03:06.519 you know, more frequently. But each brood we'll hatch every 0:03:06.560 --> 0:03:09.440 seventeen or thirteen years, right, it happens every year, depending 0:03:09.480 --> 0:03:13.959 on the type of brood. Exactly, Um this year. Yes, 0:03:14.040 --> 0:03:17.040 we're in brood too. And there are two two types 0:03:17.080 --> 0:03:20.640 of um broods, or two types of periodic broods. And 0:03:20.680 --> 0:03:23.720 by the way, periodic broods, the ones that emerge after 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:28.040 thirteen years or seventeen years, are native and indigenous only 0:03:28.080 --> 0:03:30.560 to North America. Oh yeah, yeah, so it's like our 0:03:30.600 --> 0:03:34.200 special thing. Yeah. So if you're talking about Cicada Invasion 0:03:34.200 --> 0:03:36.040 two thus thirteen to a British person or gear and 0:03:36.120 --> 0:03:37.960 be like, I don't know what you're talking about, but 0:03:38.240 --> 0:03:40.640 um oh we should say, chuck, We're going to be 0:03:40.680 --> 0:03:44.000 a part of this in our own way. Yeah, we're 0:03:44.000 --> 0:03:47.960 gonna be on the TV for Science Channel Cicada Invasion 0:03:48.040 --> 0:03:51.560 two thousand thirteen on Sunday. Right. Yeah, they're doing lots 0:03:51.560 --> 0:03:55.600 of cool programming and they have gotten us to provide 0:03:55.640 --> 0:03:58.880 some little bumpers and moments in between with a cool 0:03:58.920 --> 0:04:01.760 professor that's going to be and he is, and with 0:04:01.840 --> 0:04:06.520 propetor Mike. Yeah, my professor, Mike Route. He is the foremost, 0:04:07.120 --> 0:04:13.240 um utmost and foremost steam expert on um cicadas and 0:04:13.280 --> 0:04:17.120 he's Maryland terrapists that right, I believe. So alright, So yeah, 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:21.440 it's called Cicadas and Invaders two thousand thirteen. It's on Sunday, 0:04:22.400 --> 0:04:25.120 Science Channel. It goes from eight to eleven PM, but 0:04:25.320 --> 0:04:28.400 we're hosting the nine to eleven PM segment, which includes 0:04:28.480 --> 0:04:32.839 the dramatic climax. Yeah. But so we're gonna be there 0:04:32.880 --> 0:04:34.920 on Science Channel on that day, so go check it out. 0:04:35.600 --> 0:04:37.560 So we know a lot about cicadas, and this is 0:04:37.600 --> 0:04:44.000 why that's right. So um again you said, uh, magic cicada. 0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:49.359 I like magic acada for that, but um, the seventeen 0:04:49.440 --> 0:04:54.400 year brewed species is what's coming out along the eastern seaboard. Um. 0:04:54.440 --> 0:04:58.680 And they're going to be eventually black with orange veined 0:04:58.680 --> 0:05:03.480 wings and red eyes. Yeah, generally they have red eyes, although, um, 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:06.640 you can occasionally spot a very rare blue eyed or 0:05:06.720 --> 0:05:09.880 silver eyed. Um, but you cannot get money for those. 0:05:10.200 --> 0:05:12.640 Did you hear about that rumor? In two thousand and four, 0:05:12.680 --> 0:05:14.640 I think there was a rumor that Johns Hopkins was 0:05:14.680 --> 0:05:18.159 paying money for blue eyed cicadas if you could find them, 0:05:18.240 --> 0:05:21.760 and they were like, no, no, stop bringing those. It's 0:05:21.800 --> 0:05:24.279 neat and it's rare, but we're not offering money up 0:05:24.320 --> 0:05:26.680 for this, but thank you. We'll take them for free, 0:05:26.680 --> 0:05:29.960 those suckers. But generally they're a little Steve A. Simon 0:05:30.000 --> 0:05:32.679 looking red eye things, you know. And and we should 0:05:32.680 --> 0:05:34.479 also say, here's what the big deal is. This is 0:05:34.520 --> 0:05:37.599 why it's called like invaders in the invasion in Cicada 0:05:37.640 --> 0:05:41.279 apple apocalypse. I just made that one up two thousand 0:05:41.360 --> 0:05:45.679 thirteen from people who don't live here. Um, this happens 0:05:45.680 --> 0:05:49.040 with the brood like every seventeen years, and broods are 0:05:49.200 --> 0:05:53.200 incredibly well synchronized, and there are billions of these things, 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:56.560 and because they're synchronized, billions of cicadas are going to 0:05:56.600 --> 0:05:59.600 all emerge from the ground pretty much at once in 0:05:59.600 --> 0:06:04.280 an air. Yeah. In fact, Professor Ralph himself was quoted 0:06:04.279 --> 0:06:07.640 in a thing I read today said, Um, there's a boatload. 0:06:08.080 --> 0:06:11.640 There could be a billion per square mile, dude, right, 0:06:11.880 --> 0:06:15.880 not a billion overall, like a billion in your like 0:06:16.200 --> 0:06:21.200 you and your neighbors backyards. Yeah, it's crazy. Yeah, I 0:06:21.200 --> 0:06:23.480 think it's more like one and a half million per 0:06:23.520 --> 0:06:27.400 acre at its peak. So you and three other neighbors 0:06:27.720 --> 0:06:30.440 you got one and a half million. So rap was wrong. No, 0:06:30.560 --> 0:06:33.560 he said a square mile. Okay, square mom, Yeah, no 0:06:33.720 --> 0:06:35.839 he's not. I don't think he's wrong about anything that 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:39.680 has the cads. Um. Yeah, we haven't met him yet. 0:06:39.680 --> 0:06:41.520 We're leaving in a couple of days. Actually, in the 0:06:41.520 --> 0:06:44.200 real time, we have high hopes. Yeah, of course, So 0:06:44.320 --> 0:06:47.080 I guess you want to talk about what these guys 0:06:47.120 --> 0:06:51.400 look like. Guys and gals look like alright, aside from 0:06:51.400 --> 0:06:54.080 the orange veins, that's right. Um, they are in the 0:06:54.200 --> 0:06:58.720 order him up tera, which anything has piercing and sucking 0:06:58.760 --> 0:07:02.359 mouthparts is in that order, right, And um, you got 0:07:02.440 --> 0:07:04.960 a wingspan between two and a half centimeters to fifteen 0:07:05.440 --> 0:07:07.600 And have you seen the big ones, man, they're huge, 0:07:07.800 --> 0:07:09.960 like palm in your hand. Big. Yeah. The ones in 0:07:09.960 --> 0:07:13.239 the tropics are are up to like six inches long 0:07:13.960 --> 0:07:17.400 their body, not their wingspan. That's crazy. Um, they are 0:07:17.440 --> 0:07:21.600 bad flyers. I guess I'm gonna just guess here and 0:07:21.600 --> 0:07:24.520 say because they're not around long, they're not a lot 0:07:24.520 --> 0:07:28.160 of experience. They're probably kind of heavy, yea, you know, 0:07:28.360 --> 0:07:32.000 they're not very aerodynamic heavy for their wings. And um, 0:07:32.040 --> 0:07:34.440 I think you just kicked up point one of what 0:07:34.680 --> 0:07:41.160 makes cicada's the affable, lovable member of the insect goose 0:07:41.280 --> 0:07:44.040 balls that they are. They have two sets of wings 0:07:44.080 --> 0:07:47.560 one two pairs of wings, and they can't fly very well. 0:07:48.280 --> 0:07:50.400 So that's no, that's one. Yeah, they have the outer 0:07:50.440 --> 0:07:53.200 wings are glassy and transparent, and they're longer and they 0:07:53.240 --> 0:07:57.200 covered the shorter opaque wings, and um, they look formidable 0:07:57.200 --> 0:07:58.640 when you look at the wings are all vany and 0:07:58.680 --> 0:08:01.440 like they look sturdy. Yeah they're not. They're not. They're 0:08:01.480 --> 0:08:04.120 not for the icadus. Here's the other funny thing. They 0:08:04.160 --> 0:08:07.920 have three pairs of legs, but they're not good jumpers 0:08:07.920 --> 0:08:10.080 even though they try to. Yeah, all their legs are 0:08:10.080 --> 0:08:12.160 about the same length, so they're kind of clumsy. They 0:08:12.160 --> 0:08:14.920 can't fly very well. They can't jump very well, that's 0:08:14.920 --> 0:08:17.760 the point to. So they have those big goofy red eyes, 0:08:17.800 --> 0:08:22.640 and then they have three compound eyes and three tiny 0:08:22.680 --> 0:08:25.040 little eyes and uh in between on the top of 0:08:25.040 --> 0:08:28.120 their head called ossily and they of course watch for 0:08:28.280 --> 0:08:31.800 the birds and other predators that lurk above. Right, So 0:08:31.800 --> 0:08:34.880 they have the really great peripheral vision from the compound 0:08:34.920 --> 0:08:37.640 eyes on the side and then great I guess airborne 0:08:37.760 --> 0:08:41.320 vision worms eye vision, that's right. And a couple of 0:08:41.360 --> 0:08:46.520 little bristle like antenna behind the little um asila assily eyes. 0:08:48.360 --> 0:08:50.840 I guess that would be repetitive to say or redundant 0:08:50.880 --> 0:08:52.480 say assily eyes, because that's what they are, but you 0:08:52.520 --> 0:08:55.280 know what I'm saying. Then they have those mouthparts that 0:08:55.320 --> 0:08:57.720 we mentioned, and they are in a sheath, a beak 0:08:57.800 --> 0:09:01.320 like sheath called labium, which they just tuck there between 0:09:01.320 --> 0:09:04.559 their legs unless they need to use it, which is 0:09:04.600 --> 0:09:07.240 what they do in there. They eat that um that 0:09:07.400 --> 0:09:12.720 sheath flabium holds four little um stickers called stylet's their 0:09:12.960 --> 0:09:15.559 their needle like, and they jam it into the plant 0:09:15.679 --> 0:09:17.960 or like the leaf and they just suck it up 0:09:18.000 --> 0:09:23.360 like a straw. That and reproduction is that's the point 0:09:23.400 --> 0:09:26.120 of the cicada's life. Yeah, well that's what they did. 0:09:26.360 --> 0:09:28.880 Reproduction in those really the point, you know what I'm saying. 0:09:29.200 --> 0:09:31.800 They like to they like to do it. They're like 0:09:31.840 --> 0:09:36.240 recipute and uh boy, people can be like that's a 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:41.480 random thing to say. Weeks later you'll understand. So they're 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:46.040 famous though for uh, not only for their weird seventeen 0:09:46.120 --> 0:09:50.360 year or thirteen year emergence, but they're loud, loud singing, 0:09:51.120 --> 0:09:53.520 and before we go on to describe it, we might 0:09:53.559 --> 0:09:56.360 as well just hear it, don't you think so? A 0:09:56.360 --> 0:09:59.720 brief little audio bit here from Jerry. This is the 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:22.440 Kada singing. Jerry's gonna make a cicada call. That was 0:10:22.480 --> 0:10:25.640 really good, Jerry, Uh and really good, Mr Cicada. And 0:10:25.640 --> 0:10:28.200 I say mr. Because it's only the men that are singing. 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:32.160 The males. Why do they sing? Well, two reasons, to 0:10:32.760 --> 0:10:36.200 attract females to mate and to scare off birds. Because 0:10:36.240 --> 0:10:41.559 it is so freaking loud. It will scare off birds. So, um, 0:10:41.559 --> 0:10:47.200 this it is extraordinarily loud. The cicada call the males 0:10:47.280 --> 0:10:50.240 mating songs, especially when they get together. And I've seen, yeah, 0:10:50.400 --> 0:10:53.400 I've seen that. Doctor Mike said that it was recorded 0:10:53.440 --> 0:10:56.960 at like ninety four decibels, which is like a standing 0:10:57.000 --> 0:10:59.920 next to a lawnmower. But basically, but if this is 0:11:00.120 --> 0:11:02.920 this is a sound made by an insect, and it's everywhere. 0:11:02.920 --> 0:11:05.160 It fills the air for someone who hasn't experienced to 0:11:05.640 --> 0:11:10.880 like a chorus of male cicadas all singing together, it's everywhere. 0:11:10.960 --> 0:11:14.040 It's really loud. And in fact, you said lawnmower. The 0:11:14.120 --> 0:11:16.960 females can actually be attracted to lawnmars and weed eaters. 0:11:17.120 --> 0:11:20.679 Is that right? Yeah, that's crazy. And just to give 0:11:20.720 --> 0:11:24.720 you an idea, between eighty and ninety decibles is when 0:11:24.920 --> 0:11:28.400 the threat of hearing loss begins. Um, and like you said, 0:11:28.440 --> 0:11:30.600 lawn mowars, and about one twenty as a rock concert, 0:11:30.760 --> 0:11:33.160 about one forty as a jet engine. And these things 0:11:33.160 --> 0:11:35.960 are a little tiny insects. But remember that. And again 0:11:36.040 --> 0:11:39.400 Dr Mike said, uh, ninety four was what he'd seen recorded. 0:11:39.760 --> 0:11:41.600 But I have also read up to a hundred and 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:45.480 twenty decibles. Yeah, that's really really loud. Yeah, And apparently 0:11:45.480 --> 0:11:47.559 you can get so high that humans can't hear them. 0:11:47.559 --> 0:11:50.080 But if your dog is going berserker, you're in like 0:11:50.200 --> 0:11:53.280 North Carolina or Maryland or something, that might be why. 0:11:53.520 --> 0:11:57.400 And yeah, the smaller species make higher pitched ones. I guess, 0:11:57.480 --> 0:12:00.240 So how are they doing this? Oh? Well, um, they 0:12:00.240 --> 0:12:03.080 have Actually a lot of people think that it's a chirp, 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:05.760 maybe like a cricket rubs its legs together. You would 0:12:05.760 --> 0:12:09.400 be wrong. We should say that cicadas are closer to 0:12:09.679 --> 0:12:15.040 aphids than crickets, right, um. And they're also not using 0:12:15.080 --> 0:12:17.640 any vocal cords because they lack those. What they do 0:12:17.760 --> 0:12:21.280 have are these little membranes on the sides of their abdomens. 0:12:22.160 --> 0:12:26.280 And these membranes are they're called timbles, and they're connected 0:12:26.320 --> 0:12:31.880 to um well, I guess they're inside by a little muscle, right, 0:12:32.160 --> 0:12:37.440 And when the muscle contracts, the timble bends increased forms 0:12:37.440 --> 0:12:40.280 in it, and then when the muscle relaxes, the timble 0:12:40.360 --> 0:12:44.000 goes back to taught again and that makes a clicking sound. 0:12:44.240 --> 0:12:46.040 And if you do that a bunch of times, what 0:12:46.200 --> 0:12:48.280 you have is the cicada song. Yeah, and they don't 0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:51.240 know why it's so loud or how it's so loud. Um, 0:12:51.280 --> 0:12:53.439 I did read something. I'm not sure if it's verified 0:12:53.480 --> 0:12:57.480 that there are like, uh pockets in the abdomen that 0:12:57.720 --> 0:13:01.079 make it louder or something. But still such a small insect. 0:13:01.440 --> 0:13:02.760 I mean, it's like I said, it can be big, 0:13:02.800 --> 0:13:05.600 but that's still an insect, right. And this sound, like 0:13:05.600 --> 0:13:09.000 you said, it messes with birds. Um. It can scare 0:13:09.040 --> 0:13:11.559 them off, but it can also even the ones that 0:13:11.600 --> 0:13:14.160 aren't scared off. It prevents birds from hunting and packs 0:13:14.200 --> 0:13:16.760 because they can't communicate with one another because it's so loud. 0:13:17.400 --> 0:13:19.920 So it's also a defense mechanism. It's a mating call, 0:13:20.520 --> 0:13:24.920 and apparently certain species make a certain sound to prevent 0:13:25.600 --> 0:13:29.720 I guess interspecial mixing. Well, they want to be with 0:13:29.720 --> 0:13:31.520 their own kind, you know, right, because they don't have 0:13:31.559 --> 0:13:34.280 too many shots at this And they're doing all this 0:13:34.440 --> 0:13:37.200 um up in the trees, right. Yeah. And it's usually 0:13:37.240 --> 0:13:38.719 during the heat of the day when the when this 0:13:39.320 --> 0:13:44.320 music is going on. You say music, I say chainsaw. Uh. 0:13:44.160 --> 0:13:46.920 Oh does it bother you? I think it's so soothing. 0:13:48.400 --> 0:13:51.800 Have you ever been among the invasion? Yeah? It it 0:13:51.920 --> 0:13:55.840 to me it's not soothing because it's so loud and 0:13:55.880 --> 0:13:58.160 so continuous that it's sort of like drives me mad. 0:13:58.240 --> 0:14:01.120 Actually it's neat though. It's cool because you know it's 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:03.760 gonna end and it crests and it falls, and it 0:14:03.840 --> 0:14:06.320 crests and it falls, you know, so like you know 0:14:06.400 --> 0:14:09.640 it's gonna I just think it's really neat. It is neat. Um. 0:14:09.720 --> 0:14:11.640 So it is so loud though. They even have a 0:14:11.679 --> 0:14:16.880 protection protective measure for themselves. Um. Males and females have 0:14:17.240 --> 0:14:20.040 these mirror like membranes, a pair of them called timpana, 0:14:20.640 --> 0:14:23.600 and they're sort of like their ears, and basically there's 0:14:23.600 --> 0:14:27.000 a short tendon connected and when they're shouting out with 0:14:27.040 --> 0:14:31.360 their call, they will retract the tendon and it basically 0:14:31.520 --> 0:14:33.360 just sort of creases and closes their ears so they 0:14:33.400 --> 0:14:36.000 don't have to hear. Right, it's like shuts it. Yeah, 0:14:36.240 --> 0:14:38.840 it's like a little they're like one of the mechanical function. 0:14:39.160 --> 0:14:43.600 Yeah exactly. Um, alright, so let's talk about the mating 0:14:43.640 --> 0:14:48.080 and the you know, the egging and the ovipositive thing. 0:14:48.240 --> 0:14:50.160 So this is this is like pretty much the whole 0:14:50.160 --> 0:14:53.040 reason a cicada comes to life. This is why they 0:14:53.040 --> 0:14:57.400 invade is to mate and reproduce. Right. So, once the 0:14:57.440 --> 0:15:00.760 males have attracted some females over like, they'll they search 0:15:00.840 --> 0:15:03.040 for one another. They do some terrible jumping and some 0:15:03.120 --> 0:15:06.400 bad flying and hey mama, they'll finally come up upon 0:15:06.480 --> 0:15:09.600 one another and be like, I like you, I like you, 0:15:10.000 --> 0:15:13.040 And then they go off. And after they mate, the 0:15:13.080 --> 0:15:17.400 female um carves some notches into the stoma of plants 0:15:18.040 --> 0:15:20.760 and yeah, and then uses her ovipositor, which is an 0:15:20.760 --> 0:15:25.120 egg laying appendage, and um deposits up to six eggs 0:15:25.120 --> 0:15:30.720 in one little session. And then um the eggs start 0:15:30.760 --> 0:15:33.200 to hatch and they actually fall down out of the 0:15:33.280 --> 0:15:36.840 tree as larva, these little nymphs. Yeah, okay, so their 0:15:36.920 --> 0:15:39.480 nymphs then and they so they go through the larval 0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:41.760 stage in the tree and then fall down out as nymphs. 0:15:41.840 --> 0:15:46.240 And then they burrow. Yeah, they immediately root underground as 0:15:46.240 --> 0:15:50.119 a protective measure, and then they start growing and repeatedly 0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:55.080 shutting their skin over seventeen years seventeen years, So think 0:15:55.120 --> 0:16:00.480 about this. A the average cicada lives seven in teen years. 0:16:00.520 --> 0:16:03.880 If it's a periodic seventeen years cicada, it's average lifespan 0:16:04.000 --> 0:16:08.080 is seventeen years underground and then two months above ground 0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:11.040 and then they die, Yeah, like four to six weeks generally, 0:16:11.680 --> 0:16:14.640 So like they spend almost all their life as young 0:16:14.720 --> 0:16:19.520 immature cicadas getting ready to be adults for two months 0:16:19.640 --> 0:16:22.240 or less so they can reproduce ones and then nuts. 0:16:22.320 --> 0:16:24.560 It is nuts. It's pretty neat. Though. If you don't 0:16:24.600 --> 0:16:27.000 have cicadas and you're like, what's going on, it means 0:16:27.040 --> 0:16:29.280 you probably don't have a lot of deciduous trees where 0:16:29.320 --> 0:16:31.920 you are. Yeah, they like fruit trees to yeah. Um, 0:16:32.080 --> 0:16:34.120 so don't get bummed out. Dis go visit your neighbor 0:16:34.120 --> 0:16:37.280 if they have some you've gotten yoaks uh. And the 0:16:37.360 --> 0:16:40.280 question why are they under there for so long? There 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:42.200 are a bunch of theories. I can't wait to talk 0:16:42.200 --> 0:16:44.560 to the professor Mike though in a couple of days. 0:16:44.600 --> 0:16:47.400 But the leading theory I've heard is that it's like 0:16:47.440 --> 0:16:50.960 in evolutionary rhythm that they developed to not get eaten 0:16:51.680 --> 0:16:54.680 avoid predators. Now, that is why there are billions of 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:58.280 these things in a square mile or two, and it's 0:16:58.320 --> 0:17:02.280 because they have relatively few predators underground. There's a type 0:17:02.280 --> 0:17:05.960 of fungus that that can attack them, and it can 0:17:05.960 --> 0:17:09.639 be transferred from generation to generation. There are beetle larva 0:17:09.760 --> 0:17:12.359 that will eat them, but for the most part they're 0:17:12.480 --> 0:17:16.000 out of the grasp of like their their main predators, 0:17:16.000 --> 0:17:19.040 like birds or whatever. So they do manage to survive, 0:17:19.400 --> 0:17:22.280 but then so many of them come up and die 0:17:22.440 --> 0:17:28.280 like very quickly that actually something called predators satiation comes about, 0:17:28.320 --> 0:17:31.120 which means that like the birds just fly off because 0:17:31.160 --> 0:17:33.600 they're so full they can't eat anymore. And it still 0:17:33.640 --> 0:17:37.160 doesn't significantly impact the number of cicadas. Yeah, there's still 0:17:37.240 --> 0:17:41.960 enough afterward to mate and keep the species alive. And yeah, 0:17:42.000 --> 0:17:45.800 like you're tired of eating us yet, I'm so full 0:17:45.840 --> 0:17:49.040 of cicadas, Like, fine, now we'll mate. Yeah, let's get 0:17:49.080 --> 0:17:51.800 it on. The birds are full, apparently a lot of 0:17:51.840 --> 0:17:56.080 more born cripple, yeah, especially thanks to long chemicals. Yeah, 0:17:56.400 --> 0:17:58.679 and uh, have you ever there's a time lapse on 0:17:58.720 --> 0:18:02.600 YouTube of one coming out. It's uh exoskeleton. It's pretty 0:18:02.600 --> 0:18:06.000 pretty awesome. So we should say when they when they 0:18:06.040 --> 0:18:09.479 emerge from their burrows on their chimneys, little mud chimneys. Right, 0:18:10.480 --> 0:18:13.960 they're adults, but they're called tenoral adults. They're not quite 0:18:14.000 --> 0:18:16.119 to the adult stage yet. What happens is they have 0:18:16.200 --> 0:18:20.439 to mold. They're exoskeleton, which you'll find like attached to 0:18:20.440 --> 0:18:22.960 a tree or something like that. Yeah, which are you know, 0:18:23.160 --> 0:18:25.520 it's cool and crazy. Oh, it's super cool. Yeah. And 0:18:25.560 --> 0:18:27.840 then once they mold, then that's the last time they're 0:18:27.880 --> 0:18:30.280 going to Then they're full fledged adults. And then they 0:18:30.280 --> 0:18:33.440 have like four to six weeks. Yeah maybe, like that's 0:18:33.440 --> 0:18:37.640 if you successfully make it through bird season and get 0:18:37.680 --> 0:18:40.199 the mate. Like a lot of these guys die, like 0:18:40.359 --> 0:18:43.359 you know, within days or weeks. And they dig themselves 0:18:43.400 --> 0:18:45.919 out too, with little little shovels on their it's almost 0:18:45.920 --> 0:18:48.399 like shovels on their legs and they just dig up 0:18:48.480 --> 0:18:50.679 and they're like, hey, we're here, yep, look out for 0:18:50.680 --> 0:18:54.120 that birdom already dead or oh shoot, I'm crippled or man, 0:18:54.160 --> 0:18:58.240 I can't fly seventeen years and I can't fly and 0:18:58.320 --> 0:19:00.359 here comes a bird. And apparently one of the one 0:19:00.400 --> 0:19:03.640 of the things that will kill a cicada is incomplete molting, 0:19:03.800 --> 0:19:06.560 Like they'll just get stuck and die. That's gonna be 0:19:06.560 --> 0:19:09.000 a bad way to go, Yeah, I guess. I mean, 0:19:09.119 --> 0:19:11.159 since there's billions of them, there's all manner of like 0:19:11.280 --> 0:19:14.920 awful things and most of them, so we should say 0:19:15.400 --> 0:19:20.280 cicadas are known for just huge infestations, invasions, whatever you 0:19:20.280 --> 0:19:23.480 want to call it, on a thirteen year seventeen year cycle. 0:19:23.680 --> 0:19:25.720 And there's so many of them all at once because 0:19:25.760 --> 0:19:28.240 there's so many of them a but also because they're 0:19:28.320 --> 0:19:32.320 like in synchronicity. And they think the reason why they 0:19:32.359 --> 0:19:36.160 all emerge usually at night, all at once is because 0:19:36.160 --> 0:19:38.360 they're all following the same que and they're pretty sure 0:19:38.400 --> 0:19:41.880 it has to do with ground temperature. Yeah, they think 0:19:41.920 --> 0:19:48.480 that because evolutionary um rhythm, well they and I think 0:19:48.480 --> 0:19:51.479 it's probably tied together like that rhythm is based on 0:19:51.640 --> 0:19:55.320 the temperature changes, and then there would have to be 0:19:55.359 --> 0:19:57.320 some sort of rhythm because the temperature is gonna hit. 0:19:57.640 --> 0:20:00.439 I think when the temperature averages starts to every sixty 0:20:00.480 --> 0:20:03.520 four degrees fahrenheight in the ground, that's when you're gonna 0:20:03.520 --> 0:20:07.919 start to see cicada's emerging. But that's gonna happen seventeen 0:20:07.960 --> 0:20:10.399 times or sixteen times before that seventeenth year, so there 0:20:10.440 --> 0:20:12.560 does have to be some other pattern that they're following 0:20:12.600 --> 0:20:16.440 so they don't emerge sooner, right, But it's just one dude. 0:20:16.640 --> 0:20:18.800 They were at the front. This's like you know, Ralph 0:20:18.920 --> 0:20:21.600 the old man. Alright, guys, it's been seventeen years. Let's 0:20:21.640 --> 0:20:24.400 do it. Let's do this thing. Uh and you mentioned 0:20:24.440 --> 0:20:27.919 the temperature change, but that that makes sense because uh, 0:20:27.960 --> 0:20:31.600 they they hatch you know, from a southerly south southerly 0:20:31.960 --> 0:20:38.800 to northernly northerly or northernly. Uh southerly northerly. Yeah, let's 0:20:38.800 --> 0:20:44.080 hears up the coast. Okay, Yeah, like you'll see him 0:20:44.080 --> 0:20:46.360 in Georgia first, and then North Carolina and then Virginia 0:20:46.359 --> 0:20:48.320 and then d C and then all the way up 0:20:48.600 --> 0:20:50.639 the Hudson Valley of New York apparently. So if you 0:20:50.680 --> 0:20:54.600 were in Philadelphia or DC or New York City even 0:20:54.960 --> 0:20:57.920 you might see some cicadas this year. Yeah, there's a 0:20:57.920 --> 0:21:01.360 mathematical formula for predicting wind. You'll see cicadas in your 0:21:01.400 --> 0:21:04.600 neck of the woods. So you go to weather underground 0:21:04.640 --> 0:21:06.960 dot com and you find out you go on their 0:21:06.960 --> 0:21:10.080 almanac and look at April and you figure out what 0:21:10.119 --> 0:21:15.320 the average April temperature was in Celsius right back down. 0:21:16.040 --> 0:21:18.840 And then here's the mathematical formula E, which is the 0:21:18.880 --> 0:21:24.960 emerging state in May. Number E equals parentheses nineteen point 0:21:25.000 --> 0:21:27.880 six five minus t, which is that average April temperature 0:21:27.880 --> 0:21:31.720 and celsus divided by zero point five one three six. 0:21:32.359 --> 0:21:35.360 That number will give you the date that the cicadas 0:21:35.359 --> 0:21:37.960 are going to emerge around your area. And apparently it's 0:21:38.560 --> 0:21:41.440 tried and true. Or you can go to magic Magic 0:21:41.480 --> 0:21:44.920 Cicada dot org and click on the map. If you're 0:21:44.920 --> 0:21:48.959 not in a math and you like pictures, or if 0:21:49.000 --> 0:21:52.720 you like both, do both. Yeah, that's true. Um, I 0:21:52.760 --> 0:21:54.760 don't think I have anything else. I would definitely go 0:21:54.760 --> 0:21:56.800 look up that time lapse on YouTube. It's pretty cool. 0:21:56.880 --> 0:22:00.480 I've got more, all right, Well, you know how I 0:22:00.480 --> 0:22:04.200 said that they're this kind of the stumbly bumbly lovable, 0:22:04.240 --> 0:22:07.560 affable creatures of the insect world. So not only can 0:22:07.600 --> 0:22:09.680 they not fly very well, they can't jump very well. 0:22:09.920 --> 0:22:14.840 They genuinely lack defenses. Aside from their call, they can't 0:22:14.840 --> 0:22:17.320 do anything well. They don't buy it or sting people, 0:22:17.359 --> 0:22:20.440 even though they look scary. They don't carry disease. They 0:22:20.480 --> 0:22:24.720 prey on trees, only their herbivores, if you can call 0:22:24.760 --> 0:22:29.400 an insect that. But even if a tree um flags 0:22:29.480 --> 0:22:32.200 is what it called it like, becomes weakened from too 0:22:32.200 --> 0:22:36.320 many cicadas feeding on it trees still bounce back, so 0:22:36.359 --> 0:22:39.560 they kill nothing while they're alive. Sure, you don't need 0:22:39.600 --> 0:22:41.919 to be afraid of them. They look intimidating. But if 0:22:41.960 --> 0:22:44.840 they land on you, like hold them in your hand. Well, 0:22:44.920 --> 0:22:46.560 even still, even if you hold them in the hand, 0:22:46.880 --> 0:22:49.560 a male will make a defensive buzzing. That's kind of scary, 0:22:49.600 --> 0:22:52.120 and you can scary. It's all. It's all show, it's 0:22:52.119 --> 0:22:53.800 all talked. They're not gonna buy you, they're not gonna 0:22:53.800 --> 0:22:57.760 sting you. Um, they're really sweet little little boogers, and 0:22:57.920 --> 0:23:03.680 I welcome them. That's yeah. If also you welcome them 0:23:03.880 --> 0:23:06.119 into your belly or you want to. There's a lot 0:23:06.200 --> 0:23:09.240