Cicadas Spotted in Area After Long Hiatus

The cicadas have arrived. The interactive map sponsored by WNYC confirms anecdotal reports that the insects have awoken from a 17-year nap.  Dave Moskowitz President, Friends of the East Brunswick Environmental Commission, is excited. He blogs about bugs here.

Brood II 17-year cicadas are emerging from the ground this spring.  Cicadas are generally three-quarters of an inch to two inches long. They have wide set eyes, long transparent wings and six legs. (See cicada photos here.)

Male cicadas make a rapid clicking noise by flexing and contracting an organ in their abdomen called a tymbal, according to Cicadamania.com. Female cicadas also make noise, but it is quieter and made with their wings. (Listen to the sound here.) Male cicadas are among the loudest insects in the world.

Cicadas are common in the mid-Atlantic region and some come out every spring and summer—but this year, local residents will definitely see more than any year since the spring and summer of 2004.

"I think by Memorial Day it's just going to be spectacular," University of Maryland entomologist Michael Raupp told WTOP recently. "There will simply be millions of these things in the tree tops, and the boys are going to be singing their hearts out."

In some areas of the world, primarily in Southeast Asia, cicadas are a delicacy. If you’re brave enough to eat one, here are a few recipes for cooked cicadas.

If you saw a cicada, please add your obsevation here.