WEBVTT - Brood 13: Emergence of the Cicadas 0:00:03.800 --> 0:00:06.680 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind from how Stuff 0:00:06.680 --> 0:00:14.080 Works dot com. Hey, welcome the Stuff to Blow your Mind. 0:00:14.160 --> 0:00:16.680 My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Julie Douglas, and 0:00:16.680 --> 0:00:19.480 we are still in the thick of the Atlanta summer. 0:00:20.239 --> 0:00:24.560 The heat is awful, the the air just you feel 0:00:24.560 --> 0:00:27.640 it like just thick against your skin. It's like like 0:00:27.720 --> 0:00:31.120 wading through pudding. Then and it just numbs your brain. 0:00:31.200 --> 0:00:33.720 You forget who you are. And and all around us 0:00:33.720 --> 0:00:39.120 there's this cacophony. Yeah, just this, this chorus of just 0:00:39.920 --> 0:00:43.720 insane insect noises, and you can almost feel it on 0:00:43.760 --> 0:00:46.319 your skin, like like the sound we're hearing right now 0:00:46.360 --> 0:00:48.920 in the background. Get can't possibly do it justice because 0:00:48.960 --> 0:00:51.720 you because you you you almost feel it. And and 0:00:51.880 --> 0:00:54.520 it's it has this this kind of rise and fall, 0:00:55.000 --> 0:00:58.440 this uh crescendo rises up all around you, and then 0:00:58.440 --> 0:01:01.040 it kind of murmurs it down again, and it's just 0:01:02.280 --> 0:01:06.000 it's it's amazing. It's it's amazing. And it's also a 0:01:06.040 --> 0:01:10.080 signal that your summer overlords have a right. And it's 0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:12.080 it's not just us here in Georgia, this is all 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:15.000 over the world. So for all your listeners, you probably 0:01:15.040 --> 0:01:17.040 know what we're talking about, are most of you, because 0:01:17.600 --> 0:01:22.080 you know, they're everywhere. It's the greatest insect infestation in 0:01:22.120 --> 0:01:28.919 the world. Cicadas the best insect, the greatest, biggest, uh, 0:01:29.400 --> 0:01:34.399 most craziest. Yeah, yeah, it's it's pretty crazy, it's and 0:01:34.400 --> 0:01:38.679 and just amazing to behold these guys. Cicadas or cicadas 0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:41.520 if you're rather Yeah, you'll hear me go between both, 0:01:41.560 --> 0:01:43.920 because it's a weird little language thing for me. But yeah, 0:01:43.920 --> 0:01:48.280 cicada's right now. But yeah, and they're obviously they've been 0:01:48.280 --> 0:01:50.880 on our mind because, as you said, um, they sort 0:01:50.880 --> 0:01:53.120 of usher in the hottest point of summer, at least 0:01:53.160 --> 0:01:56.280 here in Georgia, and you become very aware of this 0:01:56.400 --> 0:02:00.640 sound permeating the air all around you. Yeah. Currently we're 0:02:00.680 --> 0:02:04.440 dealing with what is called brood thirteen, because there are 0:02:04.440 --> 0:02:07.800 different broods of cicadas. Uh, and though they are numerous species. 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:10.920 For starters, they're like three thousand or more different species. 0:02:11.040 --> 0:02:13.000 I suppose we should describe what they look like, just 0:02:13.040 --> 0:02:16.480 in case people are not really familiar. Yeah. Yeah, they 0:02:16.520 --> 0:02:19.480 are kind of monstrous looking or beautiful looking, depending on 0:02:19.520 --> 0:02:25.280 your opinion. Well, I think both are apt. Yeah, they 0:02:25.080 --> 0:02:27.560 based when when humans start really seeing them. They're they're 0:02:27.600 --> 0:02:32.600 emerging as this little nymph, this little uh ground based 0:02:32.639 --> 0:02:34.880 creature that looks kind of like if you've ever seen 0:02:34.960 --> 0:02:39.280 the Miyazaki film uh Nasica Valley the Wind, those big 0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:42.440 giant insects that are in that with a glowing red eyes, 0:02:42.440 --> 0:02:44.760 they kind of look like that. They look they're kind 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:46.560 of they're really kind of awesome like that, because suddenly 0:02:46.600 --> 0:02:48.760 they're everywhere crawling up the sides of trees and they're 0:02:48.800 --> 0:02:52.720 milky white. So yeah, yeah, and uh and they really 0:02:52.720 --> 0:02:55.200 look alien like there is I mean, most insects do 0:02:55.280 --> 0:02:56.520 have kind of an alien look to them, but these 0:02:56.520 --> 0:02:58.400 guys really look awesome. And they crawl up to a 0:02:58.480 --> 0:03:01.320 certain height and then they begin to mold, right, and 0:03:01.360 --> 0:03:03.440 so they so they begin their life underground, so that's 0:03:03.480 --> 0:03:06.640 why they got that kind of milky white body. And 0:03:06.680 --> 0:03:08.720 like you said, they make their way to the trees 0:03:08.919 --> 0:03:11.560 and then they begin to molt and low and behold 0:03:11.720 --> 0:03:15.720 these beautiful wings just unfurl. Yeah, and they inflate them 0:03:16.160 --> 0:03:18.600 and uh and and once they're ready to go that 0:03:18.639 --> 0:03:20.280 they take off. They don't always get to take off 0:03:20.320 --> 0:03:23.840 sometimes there are some some flaws in the emergence ritual 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:27.040 if you will, especially like if there's like pesticide in 0:03:27.080 --> 0:03:28.760 the area, that'll mess with it and they just end 0:03:28.800 --> 0:03:30.880 up being half emerged and something comes and eats them. 0:03:31.080 --> 0:03:33.639 But yeah, once they have those wings, then they're able 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:38.240 to fly around make just fabulous noises and uh, and 0:03:38.720 --> 0:03:41.920 they make different noises. The males are making mating noises, 0:03:41.920 --> 0:03:44.720 but then they're all making they all will make noise 0:03:44.760 --> 0:03:48.160 if their approached by a predator, right right, So um, 0:03:48.240 --> 0:03:49.920 and that's something we'll get to in a little bit. 0:03:50.000 --> 0:03:52.760 But that's important about the certain sort of calls that 0:03:52.800 --> 0:03:55.400 they make because they're actually pretty specific. I know it 0:03:55.400 --> 0:03:57.160 sounds when you're hearing them, it just sounds like one 0:03:57.200 --> 0:04:00.040 big chorus, but there's actually a very distinct noise is 0:04:00.360 --> 0:04:03.520 emanating from that chorus. Yeah, and these guys don't sting, 0:04:03.800 --> 0:04:05.600 they don't bite, no, no, and they're not going to 0:04:05.760 --> 0:04:09.760 hurt you. They're not going to ruin anything in your yard. Um. 0:04:09.840 --> 0:04:12.600 If anything, you'll get some nicks in the tree branches 0:04:13.320 --> 0:04:16.240 from the females when they're laying their eggs. But but no, 0:04:16.520 --> 0:04:18.279 they're they're not gonna hurt you. The only thing I 0:04:18.320 --> 0:04:21.039 did see though, is Sir Richard Attenborough had a little 0:04:21.080 --> 0:04:23.640 clip that I saw and he was hanging out with 0:04:23.640 --> 0:04:26.560 the cicada and um he was making yeah, he was, 0:04:26.640 --> 0:04:29.280 of course, and he was trying to woo it, and 0:04:29.360 --> 0:04:32.640 he was making little clicks of the finger like that, 0:04:32.680 --> 0:04:34.640 and it was coming toward him. It hopped down on 0:04:34.720 --> 0:04:36.840 him and began to think it needed to mate with him. 0:04:36.920 --> 0:04:39.280 Oh my goodness. So if you were to do that, 0:04:39.320 --> 0:04:42.640 you should be prepared for for some sort of mating 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:44.960 ritual to happen on your arm, and perhaps even like 0:04:45.040 --> 0:04:49.320 the little probiosist to start pecking away at your arm. Wow, man, 0:04:49.520 --> 0:04:51.800 Edinburgh is the best, really, I mean yeah, I loved 0:04:51.839 --> 0:04:54.040 it when he in the episode of Life and Mammals 0:04:54.040 --> 0:04:56.560 where he had some hedgehogs come into it in his backyard. 0:04:56.600 --> 0:05:00.480 But now he's actively wooing cicada's in But I assume 0:05:00.480 --> 0:05:03.200 this is Life of Insects. I can't remember where the 0:05:03.200 --> 0:05:06.120 clip was from, probably, but but yeah, I mean he 0:05:06.240 --> 0:05:10.720 he just sexes up everything. It's that voice, it's that approach, 0:05:11.040 --> 0:05:14.960 it's the wooing. Oh yeah. But we should probably talk 0:05:14.960 --> 0:05:17.760 about these these guys, um where we can find them 0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:20.920 in the in the United States, mostly in the southeastern 0:05:21.120 --> 0:05:24.640 United States, in Australia all over. In fact, there are 0:05:24.640 --> 0:05:28.280 two hundred species alone in Australia. Oh wow, Yeah, those 0:05:28.279 --> 0:05:30.920 guys always get some good, good credits. Yeah, and again 0:05:30.960 --> 0:05:32.400 we talked a little bit about what they look like. 0:05:32.440 --> 0:05:36.080 But again you've got green bodied ones, black bodied ones, 0:05:36.120 --> 0:05:39.640 brown and so on and so forth, and in various sizes. 0:05:39.680 --> 0:05:42.599 To the really amazing form of cicadas. There of course, 0:05:42.640 --> 0:05:45.360 the periodical cicadas and uh, and we're about to discuss 0:05:45.400 --> 0:05:47.599 those in a little more detail. You only find those 0:05:47.640 --> 0:05:52.040 in eastern North America. So sorry Australia, but but we've 0:05:52.040 --> 0:05:54.120 got the goods on the on the really awesome bugs 0:05:54.160 --> 0:05:57.440 this time, you know. Yeah, in the periodical we should 0:05:57.440 --> 0:05:59.200 talk about that a little bit of the difference between 0:05:59.200 --> 0:06:03.080 a periodical cicada and the annual cicada. Yes, annuals of 0:06:03.160 --> 0:06:05.480 course come out every year, or members of the different 0:06:05.480 --> 0:06:08.240 brute of that particular species will come out every year. 0:06:08.960 --> 0:06:11.000 So it's like, oh, well, it's guys, these guys from 0:06:11.000 --> 0:06:13.640 this particular species. I see those guys all the time. 0:06:13.680 --> 0:06:18.159 But then there are other uh cicadas, these uh, these periodicals, 0:06:18.240 --> 0:06:21.760 and they will stay underground for tremendous periods of time, 0:06:21.839 --> 0:06:23.800 especially when you think of insect because so many insects 0:06:23.839 --> 0:06:27.240 where live such short lives from the insect world is 0:06:27.240 --> 0:06:31.040 so hostiles and short lived. It's just staggering that you 0:06:31.120 --> 0:06:36.479 have cicadas, periodical cicadas with thirteen year life cycles, seventeen 0:06:36.560 --> 0:06:40.760 year life cycles. Um. There are seven species, uh of 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:44.400 periodical cicadas, and there four with thirteen year life cycles 0:06:44.520 --> 0:06:46.760 and three with seventeen year life cycles. And we are 0:06:46.760 --> 0:06:48.720 in the thirteen years, so these guys would have hung 0:06:48.760 --> 0:06:52.320 out in Georgia at least May three to June. Yeah, 0:06:52.480 --> 0:06:54.520 So it's I mean, it's just really amazing too to 0:06:54.560 --> 0:06:58.120 think it's it's this presence that just vanishes for a 0:06:58.160 --> 0:07:01.680 decade or more, you know. And eighteen years underground, thirteen 0:07:01.720 --> 0:07:04.960 years underground and um, and then the annuals are what 0:07:05.000 --> 0:07:07.679 we're hearing right now because it's July, July in August, 0:07:07.720 --> 0:07:10.920 excuse me, it's August now and uh, and that's what 0:07:10.960 --> 0:07:13.120 we're hearing up in the trees. So that's kind of cool. 0:07:13.160 --> 0:07:14.920 And we really want to talk a little bit more 0:07:15.040 --> 0:07:19.040 about those seventeen years, thirteen years, one or two years underground, 0:07:19.080 --> 0:07:21.760 depending on the species. Yeah, it's it's really interesting because 0:07:21.760 --> 0:07:24.239 they come it's like this brief not even the whole summer, 0:07:24.280 --> 0:07:27.920 you know, just a very brief, you know, high time 0:07:28.040 --> 0:07:30.520 of mating in the trees and making lots of noise 0:07:30.720 --> 0:07:33.560 and uh, giving cats and dogs things to play with. 0:07:34.120 --> 0:07:36.720 But but yeah, there's a whole prequel to the cicada 0:07:36.800 --> 0:07:39.840 life we see underground and the last thirteen or seventeen 0:07:39.920 --> 0:07:42.960 years for the periodicals um generally it's a lot of 0:07:43.120 --> 0:07:45.960 root drinking. So it's not exactly is it's it's not 0:07:46.040 --> 0:07:53.200 nearly as exciting as the tree mating. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 0:07:53.240 --> 0:07:55.920 These these little guys they hatch up on the trees 0:07:56.040 --> 0:07:58.160 right out of their egg, and then they make their 0:07:58.200 --> 0:08:00.880 way down and they brow under the ground, and they 0:08:01.360 --> 0:08:04.160 survive underground by sucking xylem, which is sap from tree 0:08:04.240 --> 0:08:08.040 roots um, as you mentioned, and through the appropriousis, which 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:11.560 is like a feeding tube. And again yet you mentioned too. 0:08:11.680 --> 0:08:15.200 These are called nymphs, And oddly enough, like a year 0:08:15.240 --> 0:08:18.360 after year they live underground and somehow and they still 0:08:18.400 --> 0:08:21.520 don't know why this is or how this is, they 0:08:21.560 --> 0:08:24.360 detect that this is the year that they need to emerge, 0:08:24.880 --> 0:08:28.040 and that it's the temperature has risen to degree that 0:08:28.120 --> 0:08:29.680 it should that would be good for them to go 0:08:29.680 --> 0:08:33.520 ahead and and emerge from the earth. And that's when, 0:08:33.559 --> 0:08:36.360 as you mentioned before, they just kind of, you know, 0:08:36.400 --> 0:08:39.199 start making their way slumbering toward the top of the 0:08:39.280 --> 0:08:42.839 tree where they then molt um. And this is really 0:08:42.840 --> 0:08:46.160 cool too. After they meet, and we'll talk a little 0:08:46.160 --> 0:08:48.560 bit more about mating two and the mating rituals. The 0:08:48.600 --> 0:08:51.880 females lay their eggs and they use something called an avipositor, 0:08:52.360 --> 0:08:53.880 which just sounds like it should have a trade mar 0:08:54.920 --> 0:08:59.360 it's it's the it's it's in species like wasps and bees, 0:08:59.559 --> 0:09:02.720 it is of course the stinger, but in these guys 0:09:02.760 --> 0:09:05.040 it has only one purpose, and that's to lay some eggs. 0:09:05.600 --> 0:09:07.880 The original purpose. Yeah, it's kind of like a samurai sword, 0:09:08.000 --> 0:09:12.079 just making these deep cuts into the branches and then 0:09:12.120 --> 0:09:15.160 they deposit about between four hundred and six hundred eggs. 0:09:15.679 --> 0:09:18.640 And that's that's like the main crux of this whole thing. 0:09:19.000 --> 0:09:24.640 Seventeen years underground just to emerge mate and then you know, 0:09:24.760 --> 0:09:27.240 lay your eggs and die away. Well, that's that's a 0:09:27.320 --> 0:09:31.600 genetic mission, you know, to mate, put out these these 0:09:31.640 --> 0:09:33.440 young in the in the tree and make sure that 0:09:33.520 --> 0:09:36.520 they that the brood can continue, you know. Yeah, and 0:09:36.679 --> 0:09:38.800 you had brought up an interesting question the other day 0:09:38.800 --> 0:09:40.240 when we were just kind of talking about this over 0:09:40.280 --> 0:09:43.480 the water cooler. But you know, what, what do if 0:09:43.559 --> 0:09:45.520 they could talk to us? You know what might they 0:09:45.520 --> 0:09:49.319 consider themselves? Like they've lived seventeen years underground in this 0:09:49.559 --> 0:09:53.400 one form and then they become changelings and they inferl 0:09:53.440 --> 0:09:55.840 those wings and those are the adults, and that's what 0:09:55.880 --> 0:09:58.520 we recognize them. Yeah, we recognize the adults as a 0:09:58.520 --> 0:10:02.160 cicada because well, for one thing, that's what we see. 0:10:02.559 --> 0:10:05.040 It is the adult form. It's the form that actually 0:10:05.080 --> 0:10:08.760 mates and reproduces. But for the for the vast majority 0:10:08.800 --> 0:10:12.040 of their lifespan, they are nymphs. So I mean, in 0:10:12.240 --> 0:10:14.520 a way, it's like which is the species, which is 0:10:14.559 --> 0:10:17.079 the which is the form? You know? Yeah, yeah, which 0:10:17.120 --> 0:10:18.680 is you know, it's just one of those interesting questions, 0:10:18.679 --> 0:10:20.520 like if they were looking at all the literature online 0:10:20.640 --> 0:10:23.360 and they were like, hey, that's not me. Really, that's 0:10:23.400 --> 0:10:27.160 me for two weeks and then I die. Yeah. It's 0:10:27.200 --> 0:10:29.400 it's like if somebody was was like, I can't believe 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:31.559 everyone's published all these pictures in me on spring break. 0:10:31.600 --> 0:10:33.440 That's just me on spring break. The rest of the time, 0:10:33.440 --> 0:10:35.760 I'm a I'm a contract lawyer, but I don't under 0:10:35.760 --> 0:10:38.400 seen any pictures of me. And you know in a 0:10:38.480 --> 0:10:41.280 tide going through contracts with red ink. No, you focus 0:10:41.360 --> 0:10:45.400 on me in Miami Beach. Yeah, in a in a 0:10:45.400 --> 0:10:49.800 banana hammock, which that's fine, if you want to wear 0:10:49.840 --> 0:10:53.120 a bananhammock, that's fine. But anyway, Yes, that is their 0:10:53.160 --> 0:10:57.280 mission and uh and which brings us again to the 0:10:57.559 --> 0:11:01.960 whole mating process and the reason why that call, that 0:11:02.040 --> 0:11:05.040 that um siren like call, at least to the other 0:11:05.520 --> 0:11:08.920 female psicotas, is so strong and so loud, sometimes up 0:11:08.960 --> 0:11:11.640 to a hundred and ten decibles. And just to give 0:11:11.679 --> 0:11:14.040 everybody an idea of what that sounds like, your lawnmower 0:11:14.120 --> 0:11:18.080 is ninety deciples. A car horn is a hundred ten decibles. 0:11:18.480 --> 0:11:21.880 Now think of like thousands of these guys and gals. 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:25.120 Actually not the alex of theyn saying all in chorus. 0:11:25.160 --> 0:11:27.640 It can be deafening, as I'm sure some people know. Yeah, 0:11:28.040 --> 0:11:30.319 but I think in a really positive way, Like I 0:11:30.600 --> 0:11:32.400 used to my family used to live out in the 0:11:32.480 --> 0:11:37.600 middle of nowhere in eastern western Tennessee, and I mean 0:11:37.640 --> 0:11:40.280 the forest would just buzz with these guys. It was 0:11:40.360 --> 0:11:42.560 just I mean, the cicadis. We're also interesting in a 0:11:42.600 --> 0:11:45.000 number of other ways too, because you could go and 0:11:45.040 --> 0:11:48.000 pick the little ship shells that they leave behind molt 0:11:48.480 --> 0:11:50.679 because the molting is it's kind of like it's similar 0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:53.000 to what crabs go through. It's it's it's it's not 0:11:53.040 --> 0:11:55.000 like a cocoon process, you know. It's like they leave 0:11:55.120 --> 0:11:58.400 this outer shell that looks just like them, or it 0:11:58.440 --> 0:12:00.320 looks just looks just like the nymph form. Yeah, it's 0:12:00.360 --> 0:12:02.160 like their little sarcophagus. And you can pluck it off 0:12:02.160 --> 0:12:03.800 the side of the tree. You can, and you can 0:12:03.800 --> 0:12:06.360 sort of stick it on your shirt. You can have 0:12:06.480 --> 0:12:08.040 it crawl over the head of a g I Joe 0:12:08.120 --> 0:12:13.000 man Um, you know, all sorts of thing that example. Yeah, yeah, 0:12:13.040 --> 0:12:14.559 well that's just one of the many fun things you 0:12:14.600 --> 0:12:16.520 can do it. But yeah, it's like they leave all 0:12:16.559 --> 0:12:18.840 these grotesque litle toys for you to chase your sister with. 0:12:19.559 --> 0:12:22.040 So I always enjoyed that aspect of it. And then 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:24.440 of course cats and dogs have a big time with 0:12:24.480 --> 0:12:27.440 the adult version. Yeah, I saw a photo of a 0:12:27.559 --> 0:12:30.600 Japanese artist who and I think that she was maybe 0:12:30.640 --> 0:12:34.360 a pop singer or something, um, who had adorned her 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:37.480 head with them, and it was actually really cool. Again, 0:12:37.480 --> 0:12:41.880 the adults are the notes with the shell. Yeah, um, 0:12:42.400 --> 0:12:44.080 I'm pretty sure it was the shell, but it was 0:12:44.120 --> 0:12:48.360 like a very buerk move, which I admired. It pretty cool, um, 0:12:48.440 --> 0:12:50.480 but yeah, I mean we're talking about shells and you're 0:12:50.480 --> 0:12:53.480 talking about um. What we're able to see, it really 0:12:53.520 --> 0:12:56.320 doesn't represent how many are actually out there, because within 0:12:56.440 --> 0:12:59.320 one anchor you could have one point five million of 0:12:59.400 --> 0:13:03.280 these little things hanging out again, and that's that's why 0:13:03.320 --> 0:13:07.440 you've got such a loud cry there. UM. And again 0:13:07.520 --> 0:13:10.480 you've got the mating sound, which is really important because 0:13:11.240 --> 0:13:16.520 that call, which is specific to this, to the picular species, right, UM, 0:13:16.840 --> 0:13:21.800 will attract the female. And you know they're all competing 0:13:22.080 --> 0:13:25.360 for that female's attention. And I think it's fascinating that 0:13:25.400 --> 0:13:27.160 each one is different, and each one was like, hey 0:13:27.160 --> 0:13:30.800 come over here, hey ladies, um. And they'll actually all 0:13:30.800 --> 0:13:34.079 sing again in chorus, but they'll also fly together. And 0:13:34.200 --> 0:13:37.360 sometimes it's thought that the reason why they become so 0:13:37.480 --> 0:13:40.719 loud to is just to scare off would be predators 0:13:40.760 --> 0:13:43.000 like birds, who might find it so deafening that they 0:13:43.000 --> 0:13:44.960 don't really want to hang around them. Yeah, Like, if 0:13:44.960 --> 0:13:47.000 you pick one up in your hand, it's gonna start 0:13:47.000 --> 0:13:48.720 doing a lot of or more of a cat starts 0:13:48.760 --> 0:13:50.560 playing with one, they're gonna do a lot of loud buzzing. 0:13:50.640 --> 0:13:52.440 It's just kind of, hey, stay away from me kind 0:13:52.480 --> 0:13:54.480 of a deal. But that's the limit really of their 0:13:54.720 --> 0:13:57.320 defensive capabilities. That and just flying away of course, which 0:13:57.320 --> 0:13:59.559 they'll try and do as well. Yeah, but in a 0:13:59.720 --> 0:14:01.920 mo ment after this break, we're going to talk about 0:14:01.960 --> 0:14:06.040 something called predator satiation, which is this probably one of 0:14:06.120 --> 0:14:10.160 the coolest sort of like warfare warfare moves you could 0:14:10.240 --> 0:14:15.120 make as a consect. All right, here we go. This 0:14:15.160 --> 0:14:17.920 podcast is brought to you by Intel, the sponsors of 0:14:18.000 --> 0:14:22.520 Tomorrow and the Discovery Channel. At Intel, we believe curiosity 0:14:22.640 --> 0:14:26.520 is the spark which drives innovation. Join us at curiosity 0:14:26.600 --> 0:14:32.200 dot com and explore the answers to life's questions. Okay, 0:14:32.200 --> 0:14:37.320 we're back. Okay, So again this concept predator satiation, which 0:14:37.360 --> 0:14:40.440 is which is more like a defense move not an offense. 0:14:41.400 --> 0:14:42.920 It kind of makes me think of the whole like 0:14:43.000 --> 0:14:45.640 if somebody. Um, it's kind of like turning the other cheek, 0:14:45.840 --> 0:14:48.520 you know, well, it's kind of to me. It's like, hey, 0:14:48.600 --> 0:14:51.800 eat all of my friends here and then don't eat me. 0:14:52.040 --> 0:14:55.920 Let me just give you a buffet of us, and 0:14:55.960 --> 0:14:59.440 then which will ensure that the other you know, nino 0:14:59.720 --> 0:15:02.800 of us live because there are only certain amount of 0:15:02.840 --> 0:15:06.960 predators that are going to eat the cicadas, right and 0:15:07.000 --> 0:15:09.080 so if you survive, you know, a hundred thousand and 0:15:09.120 --> 0:15:11.360 they all get stuffed, then hey, they don't. They're not 0:15:11.400 --> 0:15:14.160 really interested in the cicadas anymore. It's a brilliant. They 0:15:14.240 --> 0:15:15.920 might as well just go and put out a website 0:15:15.920 --> 0:15:18.920 with free recipes, because they say, like, come on, eat us, 0:15:18.920 --> 0:15:21.040 We're delicious. You can't possibly eat all of us. There's 0:15:21.080 --> 0:15:24.240 so many of us. Dude, they again, we're we're great. 0:15:24.320 --> 0:15:27.240 And indeed I hear they are delicious. Yeah, I have 0:15:27.400 --> 0:15:31.320 heard this. Um. They are supposed to be protein rich. 0:15:31.440 --> 0:15:34.040 They are supposed well, I know they are protein rich. 0:15:34.040 --> 0:15:37.680 Actually they're they're per pound um on par with red meat. 0:15:37.760 --> 0:15:41.520 Actually in terms of protein. They're supposed to taste like almonds, 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:45.240 and the males because they have a hollow abdomen, they 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:48.360 are reported to taste crunchy like popcorn. And we should 0:15:48.400 --> 0:15:51.120 talk about the abdomen because it's really important in creating 0:15:51.160 --> 0:15:54.640 the deafening sound. Yeah. Um, the organs that produce a 0:15:54.680 --> 0:15:56.840 sound are called timbles, and there are a pair of 0:15:56.920 --> 0:15:59.920 ribbed membranes at the base of the abdomen. And when 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:03.840 a contract that, you get the internal timble muscles, causing 0:16:03.920 --> 0:16:06.400 timbles to buckle in word, and then it produces a 0:16:06.400 --> 0:16:10.080 pulsive sound. And then by relaxing these muscles, the timbles 0:16:10.160 --> 0:16:13.040 pop back to their original position. And then in some 0:16:13.080 --> 0:16:17.200 scada species, the pulsive sound is produced as each rib buckles. 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:19.760 Cool is that? I mean it's basically like your body 0:16:19.880 --> 0:16:23.000 is an instrument. I can't do that. I would love 0:16:23.000 --> 0:16:25.040 to do that well in a way like we kind 0:16:25.040 --> 0:16:26.720 of use our bodies as an instrument the whole, like 0:16:26.760 --> 0:16:28.840 you know, seeing from your diaphragm kind of thing. I mean, 0:16:28.880 --> 0:16:31.520 it's we're using a lot of internal space if we're 0:16:31.520 --> 0:16:34.120 seeing properly. Yeah. But if I could pop, you know, 0:16:34.200 --> 0:16:37.880 a couple of ribs and make a cool sound, you know, 0:16:37.960 --> 0:16:41.440 to to for my uh would be mates to start 0:16:41.560 --> 0:16:44.480 dancing towards me. That that would be an amazing skill, 0:16:44.560 --> 0:16:47.200 and it would it would be I'm picturing just a 0:16:47.320 --> 0:16:51.000 very kind of slightly grotesque, um like solo music career 0:16:51.240 --> 0:16:54.240 where you're like, you're like doing your your music. What's 0:16:54.240 --> 0:16:57.840 your your character name? Oh, acoustic girl, Acoustic girl. You're 0:16:57.840 --> 0:17:00.200 doing acoustic girl. And then instead of like a um 0:17:00.200 --> 0:17:02.320 solo in the middle of it, there's like a rib popping. 0:17:03.760 --> 0:17:06.280 I love it, right, And I'd be glamouring my audience. 0:17:06.520 --> 0:17:08.399 And I've been watching them too much True Blood of 0:17:08.440 --> 0:17:12.119 course with the glamouring reference. But you know what I'm saying, Yeah, yeah, 0:17:12.200 --> 0:17:15.560 it's very cool stuff. Um, but yeah, I mean that's 0:17:15.640 --> 0:17:19.399 that's the really neat thing about these creatures. And again 0:17:19.520 --> 0:17:23.359 this this happens to be the year of eating cicadas, 0:17:23.400 --> 0:17:25.800 or at least it seems. There's stuff all over the 0:17:25.800 --> 0:17:28.800 web of what people have been trying to do in 0:17:28.880 --> 0:17:32.439 terms of eating cicadas, including a guy in Missouri and 0:17:32.440 --> 0:17:36.280 this is from Huffington Post. Uh, he's got Sparky's Homemade 0:17:36.280 --> 0:17:40.399 ice cream and Columbia, Missouri, and he sold out the 0:17:40.440 --> 0:17:42.680 only batch made by the way of the insect filled 0:17:42.680 --> 0:17:46.160 dessert within hours of its June one debut. Well, on 0:17:46.160 --> 0:17:48.040 one hand, you can just say, oh, it's the novelty. 0:17:48.160 --> 0:17:51.080 And ice cream is going through that thing with foodies 0:17:51.119 --> 0:17:54.439 where let's make every possible version of ice cream possible, 0:17:54.480 --> 0:17:57.880 every weird flavor that is imaginable. So foodies are gonna 0:17:58.080 --> 0:18:00.159 go nuts for It's like it's made from cicadasing it 0:18:00.240 --> 0:18:02.640 on and you know, even if it doesn't taste aff good, 0:18:02.960 --> 0:18:05.480 but um, but then maybe it is. You know. It's 0:18:05.520 --> 0:18:07.320 like we were. It's like, also, Kata's there here, there's 0:18:07.320 --> 0:18:08.960 something in us. It's like, we should eat these things. 0:18:09.000 --> 0:18:11.280 They're everywhere and they're high in protein. Like well, at 0:18:11.280 --> 0:18:13.720 some level we recognize that. Well, it's not unusual in 0:18:13.760 --> 0:18:16.080 the Moysia or Latin America to have us a street 0:18:16.119 --> 0:18:18.400 food either. Oh yeah, definitely, I mean, oh yeah, we've 0:18:18.400 --> 0:18:21.400 talked before about eating bugs, in fact, in the Evolution 0:18:21.400 --> 0:18:25.120 of Food Intro podcasts that we did recently. Uh, they're 0:18:25.160 --> 0:18:27.919 high in protein, they're out there. We really should be 0:18:27.920 --> 0:18:30.520 eating more of them. I'm disappointed that you said that 0:18:30.560 --> 0:18:32.920 we couldn't eat them during this podcast. Well, I told 0:18:32.960 --> 0:18:35.240 you I'm a vegetarian. Yeah, but it's a vegetarian like 0:18:35.280 --> 0:18:37.680 I said, you're gonna eat insects now, and I teld 0:18:37.680 --> 0:18:41.080 you that's why do not drive a motorcycle, because I 0:18:41.080 --> 0:18:43.119 don't want to get any nats might the average person 0:18:43.160 --> 0:18:48.639 every night, true fact, um, they you'll accidentally consume six 0:18:48.680 --> 0:18:52.399 spiders per night. Why are you doing to all of 0:18:52.480 --> 0:18:54.680 us out there? We don't want to know that we've 0:18:54.720 --> 0:18:57.199 been eating bugs. Okay, that's not that's not a real figure. 0:18:57.359 --> 0:19:00.840 But but anyway, another interesting thing about these these broods, 0:19:01.040 --> 0:19:05.600 like why the whole let's go disappear for thirteen seventeen years. 0:19:05.400 --> 0:19:07.960 It's it's very much like laying low. It's like the 0:19:08.000 --> 0:19:10.040 guy who steals a bunch of money from the mob 0:19:10.119 --> 0:19:12.120 and goes to live on the beach in South America 0:19:12.359 --> 0:19:14.800 for a decade before he dares sort of become a 0:19:14.840 --> 0:19:18.520 little more active. The idea is that these guys have enemies. 0:19:18.840 --> 0:19:22.080 But if you dis if your species has a habit 0:19:22.119 --> 0:19:26.640 of disappearing for nearly two decades, it prevents there from 0:19:26.640 --> 0:19:30.480 being as many specialized cicada killers. I mean, there are 0:19:30.520 --> 0:19:34.760 some predators out there who specialized in eating cicada. Yeah yeah, 0:19:34.920 --> 0:19:38.960 so they haven't, you know, completely dodged it, but but 0:19:39.040 --> 0:19:43.000 it it keeps there from being an explosion of cicada predators. Uh. 0:19:43.480 --> 0:19:45.399 But incidentally, the way they do that, but it's it's 0:19:45.480 --> 0:19:47.560 kind of amusing the way they do that though. They 0:19:47.640 --> 0:19:51.000 end up having this this large just glut of cicadas, 0:19:51.000 --> 0:19:55.399 so everything becomes a cicada predator while the emergency is 0:19:55.440 --> 0:19:57.879 going on. So yeah, yeah, but I like that idea 0:19:57.880 --> 0:20:02.520 of like this witness relocation program to confuse the squirrels. Yeah, 0:20:02.640 --> 0:20:05.679 schirls are like, what what thirteen years? I didn't you know, 0:20:05.680 --> 0:20:06.920 I didn't think you were going to come out in 0:20:06.920 --> 0:20:09.560 thirteen years at school has already did in thirteen years. Yeah, 0:20:09.800 --> 0:20:12.120 Like squirrels would not be able to to depend on 0:20:12.240 --> 0:20:16.119 these huge emergencies for their survival. You just have to 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:19.000 be a treat when it happens. So there you go, 0:20:19.080 --> 0:20:21.960 a treat for squirrels, a treat for humans sometimes. And 0:20:22.000 --> 0:20:23.680 if you want, if you want more information about the 0:20:24.040 --> 0:20:27.520 different broods, I highly recommend you check out some of these. Uh. 0:20:27.840 --> 0:20:32.080 There there's some really cool cicada websites over Cicada Mania 0:20:32.280 --> 0:20:35.040 that s I C A d A m A n 0:20:35.119 --> 0:20:39.480 i A dot com is a really good starting point 0:20:39.520 --> 0:20:41.119 for a lot of this. And they have like these 0:20:41.160 --> 0:20:43.639 neat charts where they show like the different seventeen year broods, 0:20:44.240 --> 0:20:48.560 and you know where they are in terms of of 0:20:48.560 --> 0:20:52.920