Over the past week, annual cicadas have been emerging in our neighborhood, their loud, ringing calls but a minor disturbance. Indeed, compared with their periodic cousins, which emerge in massive swarms, the annual cicadas vary in their number and impact each year.
Having spent a few years gathering nourishment from tree roots beneath the soil, they emerge in late summer to molt, mate, lay their eggs on terminal tree branches and then die; they will not eat during their brief period above ground. On the other hand, they themselves may be consumed by Mississippi kites, blue jays, raccoons, feral cats and other wildlife.
Once the larvae hatch from the eggs, they drop to the ground, burrow into the soil and attach themself to a rootlet; thus the cycle continues. How can we complain about their noisy mating calls knowing that they enjoy such a brief time in the sun?
