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I'm a southern Louisiana (US "Deep South") native. Here, and in other areas of the south (and elsewhere in the world), we have similarly large "cicadas", which
by cmpb 11y ago
I'm a southern Louisiana (US "Deep South") native. Here, and in other areas of the south (and elsewhere in the world), we have similarly large "cicadas", which are basically giant crickets. They hatch once every 13 years (shorter than most other cicadas, which hatch every 17 years) [1]. Though the hatches produce huge numbers (sometimes causing areas of road to be literally covered and obscured), and can sometimes be a nuisance because of their sound, they play a very integral role in the ecological cycle and contribute to a very diverse system of plants and animals which many people around here take great pride in. I hope that the residents of Lord Howe Island can learn to live with some new friends.
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicada https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicada
- alistairSH 11y agoThose aren't limited to the deep south. We have several broods here in VA. As a kid, those big brood years were always amazing - so many bugs crawling around, and their shells littering the roads for weeks. Amazing stuff.
- michael_h 11y agoChocolate covered cicadas, cicada pizza, fried cicadas. The mind reels at the thought, but they're generally not bad at all. When the last giant bloom came to the southern Ohio area (~2000 or so), there were people using snow shovels to the clear the sidewalks of the carcasses. There was one particular neighborhood where the sound was so deafening, you couldn't hear the person next to you, even if they were shouting.