The newspapers in our area are full of apocalyptic stories about Brood X periodical cicadas (Magicicada septendecim) that are starting to emerge in my neighborhood and in other parts of the United States after a seventeen-year stint underground. I have not seen many live cicadas, but there are dozens of discarded exoskeletons on my backyard fence and in my front yard tree, a few of which you can see in the second and third photos. I am not paranoid, but it does feel like they are surrounding me.
On Tuesday I photographed one cicada that was in the process of emerging. If you look closely at the first photo you will note that the cicada’s wings are not yet fully formed. They will eventually lengthen and become transparent. So far the cicadas have remained silent, but before long I expect to hear their deafening chorus, as the males compete to attract females by belting out their mating calls.
Yesterday the Washington Post had a story with the sensationalist title A fungus could turn some cicadas into sex-crazed ‘salt shakers of death.’ According to the authors of this article, “Yellow-white fungus grows inside the cicadas, filling their insides and pushing out against their abdomens. One by one, the rings that compose the back halves of their bodies slough off and fall to the ground. Driven by a chemical compound in the fungus — and now lacking butts and genitals — the bugs try to mate like crazy. Some researchers call these infected cicadas “flying salt shakers of death.” And they’re lurking among Brood X.” There is even a warning in the article, “Despite the amphetamine’s ability to control cicadas, no one should expect to feel a high from eating a fungus-infected insect.”
Yes, things are a little crazy here as we await the full-scale onslaught of the cicadas. I will try do an update posting in the upcoming weeks with more photos of these brooding, red-eyed insect invaders.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
These are the coolest photos, Mike, and how very fortunate you were there to see the one emerging. I love to find exoskeletons and study them. But it does sound a little crazy there, and yes sensational, with the parts of the article that you shared. These truly are the strangest of times, but still, I’m guessing you’ll not be out there eating them.
Thanks, Jet. I don’t think I will be tasting any, though there are some people who say they taste like shrimp. I think that I have even seen recipes for them. I am much more familiar with dragonfly exoskeletons than with those of cicada, but must say that they look pretty similar. Both insects undergo quite a transformation when they emerge. I like insects, so I am not at all concerned about the cicadas, but some other people are totally freaked out by them. I tried to have a little fun with my posting, with a mixture of fascinating photos and freaky facts.
where we lived in Montclair, NJ, we were in the Plague Belt. We experienced 2 episodes of 17 yr. Cicadas, and about 3yrs of Gypsy Moths that ate all the leaves off the trees. We wrapped the trees in metal bands about 15″ wide to prevent the crawling Cicadas from reaching the branches. That created a very eery scratching noise that continued all night. Like zombies scratching at your windows to get in. It was impossible to walk on the sidewalks without crunching them. They flew around at about 4′ zooming all over. There was about a 2mile swath of neighborhoods that the noise was very loud. Then nothing. We came we saw we lived to tell about it. Have fun.
I live in CT. Gypsy moths came through our section of the state three years ago and killed a massive amount of our Oak, Maple, and even killed Pine trees when there were no hardwoods left to decimate. They were so bad here, it was apocalyptic; every available surface and structure was covered in wriggling, munching caterpillars.. The cost to remove all the once beautiful, but now dead trees is enormous and ongoing. On our property we lost a good 20 fully grown trees and never in my lifetime will we recover what was killed, no matter how much we try to replace what is gone. I don’t think people who haven’t experienced anything like this really understand how heartbreaking and costly it is to have this happen. We lost trees that stood on our land for well over a century. So sad. So costly in multiple ways. While Cicadas are noisy and weird, at least they don’t decimate everything in their path.
Wow. I knew that Gypsy Moths caused some damage, but had no the destruction was that widespread.
That’s quite a story…. poor cicades.
Such cool photos. One of my sons was obsessed with cicadas for a while and made a massive collection of their exoskeletons. I don’t think he has ever personally seen one emerge in real life so that would be a cool thing for him to see.
It’s like watching a horror movie near the big trees in our neighborhood parks…a non-stop flow of cicadas crawling from the grass and up the tree. My kids love them so I keep finding them inside 😂 🤦♀️ Keeps them well entertained though!
I sure do wish we had them here. Back in the late 80’s…two generations ago, Mary Beth and I drove to Bethesda to visit her sister. As we entered Maryland the sound of cicadas was incredible. It was so loud that I thought our car was breaking down. 🙂 Those beady red eyes are awesome. Nice capture of the eclosure, Mike.
Thanks, Steve. So far I have not heard any of the cicadas, but I am sure the sound is yet to come.
We have one in our garden, we named him, Cyril.
I love the name, Cyril the Cicada! 🙂
Nice series of images Mike. We were photographing one the other day. So far we have only seen that one here!
There are lots of them here now and you can hear them throughout most of the day. It is not deafening, but I can hear the cicadas singing even when I am inside my house.
Yesterday, May 31, we went to a city park notorious for the emerging cicadas. Every life stage imaginable, but I was not aware if I saw any fungus infected. Hopefully I will settle down and write soon!
We have lots of cicadas now and the background noise they create is definitely noticeable, especially today.