Like Paul Revere’s call in 1775, the cry went out in early May, “The cicadas are coming, the cicadas are coming.” After 17 years in the ground, the cicadas of Brood II (Magicicada septendecim) were coming back in force. The Washington Post ran a story with the sensationalist headline of “Bug-phobic dread the looming swarm of Brood II cicadas” and hysteric anticipation gripped the metro D.C. area.
Like most of the snowstorms forecast in this area, the invasion of the cicadas has been underwhelming. I had not seen a single cicada until I traveled to Manssas, VA for a cookout and the got to see and hear a large number of these scarey-looking insects. Apparently we are past the peak moments, but the noise in some places was just short of deafening and there were some bushes that were covered with the giant insects.
I was struck by the contrast between the fierce look of this cicada and the delicate beauty of the purple iris on which he was perched.
Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Mike Powell 
Now this is a really cool photo. Creepy, beautiful, soft and sharp.
If you don’t like bugs, it is really creepy to be invaded by all of these giant insects. I find them to be unbelievable cool (as you seem to).
I do love my bugs. The bigger the better…..and the easier to avoid stepping on.
I’ve been looking and listening for these, but haven’t seen or heard a thing. That’s a beautiful shot of something seldom seen.
Thanks. For this group of cicadas, you’ll have to wait another 17 years.
That’s a beauty of a shot, and what an appropriate title. I bet all the local trees are happy those root sap suckers are gone (for a while).
They seem to be dying off pretty quickly. It was amazing to see how many of them were spread across a wide range of vegetation. I read that they can do a lot of damage to trees at a certain stage of development.
I had more catching up than I expected, sorry about that. Maybe it’s the summer heat getting to me (or is it just age?)