May 30, 2007
Des Plaines Cicada Report
Pamela reports having lots of cicadas near her home in Des Plaines.
Comments: rwolford@uiuc.edu
Posted by Ron Wolford at 6:36 AM | Permalink |
May 30, 2007
La Grange Cicada Emergence Report
Robert from La Grange reported that he was barbecuing Monday night and the family noticed at around dawn how the grass was moving and the cicadas were emerging.While he was sitting for a few minutes near the driveway, four cicadas crawled up his legs. A lot of the cicadas had deformed wings.
Comments: rwolford@uiuc.edu
Posted by Ron Wolford at 5:58 AM | Permalink |
May 29, 2007
They're Here at Last!
According to today's Chicago Tribune the cicadas have emerged in mass. At the Bemis Woods Forest Preserve in Western Springs, Illinois a single tree was surrounded by a 100,000 cicadas. Trees at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, and yards in Chicago's Beverly neighborhood, Oakbrook and Palos Heights were covered with cicadas.
Comments: rwolford@uiuc.edu
Posted by Ron Wolford at 8:23 AM | Permalink |
May 29, 2007
Another Cicada Pic from Glen Ellyn
This is a picture sent to me by Michele from Glen Ellyn of cicadas on the hosta plants in her yard.
Comments: rwolford@uiuc.edu
Posted by Ron Wolford at 1:46 AM | Permalink |
May 29, 2007
Michele Cicada Pic in Glen Ellyn
Michele who reported on the emergence of cicadas in her Glen Ellyn yard on May 23 has sent me a picture of cicadas shells on the ground and a few cicadas on the tree.
Comments: rwolford@uiuc.edu
Posted by Ron Wolford at 1:23 AM | Permalink |
May 29, 2007
Naperville Resident Reports on Cicadas
Chris reports from Naperville:
Just wanted to send you an email to report on areas where my wife and I have seen cicadas emerge.
NW Side of Chicago (adjacent to Schiller Woods)
Schiller Woods
Hillside (Queen of Heaven cemetery)
My wife and I drove through Elmhurst today, and the numbers were incredible with the males in full throat - the sound was almost deafening.
We have seen some deformed cicadas at most of these locations - not sure if this is normal and there will always be a percentage of these. By deformed, most seem to have extremely small wings that don't seem to form properly.
Comments: rwolford@uiuc.edu
Posted by Ron Wolford at 12:36 AM | Permalink |
May 27, 2007
Cicadas in Wheaton
My son Matt who just returned from an audition for the Wheaton Municipal Band reported that many of the band members who lived in Wheaton reported large numbers of cicadas emerging Friday night.
Comments: rwolford@uiuc.edu
Posted by Ron Wolford at 3:06 PM | Permalink |
May 25, 2007
Periodical Cicada Facts
Birds, snakes, spiders, raccoons, chipmunks, skunks, foxes, dogs, cats, moles and squirrels will eat cicadas.
Adult cicadas have 1 1/2 inch long black bodies with red eyes and orange wing veins.
Adult cicadas fly, at the most, a half-mile during their lifetimes.
Most cicadas mate and die within a few hundred feet of where they emerged from the ground.
Cicadas have piercing and sucking mouthparts.
Some years no cicadas emerge in the United States.
Cicadas will emerge when soil temperatures reach 64 F.
Brown one-inch long cicada nymphs will emerge from the soil.
Nymphs will crawl up trees and other vertical structures for their final molt.
Sometimes cicadas emerge a year or two later or earlier than scheduled. This is called "straggling"
Male cicadas sing using structures on their abdomens called tymbals. Females do not have these organs.
Only the male cicadas sing to attract the female cicadas for mating.
Cicadas do not sing at night.
Male cicadas die soon after mating.
In Chicago in 1990, people used shovels to remove dead cicadas from their sidewalks.
Females lay eggs with their ovipositor in branches and twigs 1/4 to 1/2 inches in diameter.
Eggs are white and the size of a grain of rice. Eggs will hatch in six to ten weeks.
Female cicadas can lay as many as 600 eggs.
Cicadas build chimney-like structures from through, which they emerge.
Cicadas are not locusts. Locusts are migratory grasshoppers.
Cicadas are related to leafhoppers.
Cicadas are edible.
Cicadas feed on the sap of tree roots while underground.
Periodical cicadas are only found in North America.
Cicadas will not bite or sting humans.
Cicadas cause minimal damage to trees.
There are 15 broods of cicadas in North America. Broods I though X, XIII, and XIV are 17-year broods and Broods XIX, XXII, and XXIII are 13-year broods. Five broods occur in Illinois.
The five Illinois Broods are the Iowan Brood (Brood III), the Great Southern Brood (Brood XIX), the Great Eastern Brood (Brood X), the Northern IllinoisBrood (Brood XII) and the Lower Mississippi River Valley Brood (XXIII).
The Northern Illinois Brood is emerging in 2007. It last emerged in 1990 and will next emerge in 2024.
Generally the 17-year brood is made up of three Magicicada species-Magicicada septendecim, Magicicada cassini, and Magicicada seplendecula.
Each Magicicada species has its own song.
There are seven species of cicadas. Four species have 13-year life cycles and three have 17-year life cycles.
Most cicadas will be gone by July.
Cicadas are one the world's longest living insects. Termite queens can live 15 to 20 years.
Cicadas molt 5 times underground.
After their final molt, cicadas are white, but darken as their exoskeletons harden.
Comments: rwolford@uiuc.edu
Posted by Ron Wolford at 3:16 AM | Permalink |
May 24, 2007
Seagulls Chowing Down on Cicadas
I was driving through Posen, Illinois early this morning on my way to a meeting in downtown Chicago when I saw something that reminded me of a scene from the movie, "The Birds" I saw a church roof covered with large white seagulls. I also noticed a bunch of seagulls on the other side of the street dive bombing the grass. I realized they were grabbing emerging cicadas and flying over to the roof to eat them.Posted by Ron Wolford at 5:44 PM | Permalink |
May 24, 2007
Cicadas in Westchester
Master Gardener Samantha's veterinarian who lives in Westchester reported seeing 80+ cicadas on one tree in his backyard on May 23. As of this morning, the cicadas were not singing.
Comments: rwolford@uiuc.edu
Posted by Ron Wolford at 2:53 PM | Permalink |
May 24, 2007
Deformed Cicadas in La Grange
I'm a Master Gardener who teaches a night class at the Greater La Grange YMCA. Two of my Y acquaintances who live in La Grange, Illinoisnoted that they are seeing a lot of cicadas with malformed wings, as well as cicadas that emerge, come out of their skins, and die without ever flying, seeming to "turn black and dry up". The malformation they described sounds like some of the pictures on the UMMZ site- wings that are tiny and crumpled, never unfolding properly.
In fact, on my way to my car to drive home, I saw a cicada with one wing twisted in under its body walking along. It was fully dry and seemed to have nothing else wrong with it.
Comments: rwolford@uiuc.edu
Posted by Ron Wolford at 3:27 AM | Permalink |
May 24, 2007
Glen Ellyn Cicada Report
Just thought you might like to know that the cicadas have emerged in force in our yard in Glen Ellyn, IL (western suburbs, eastern DuPage County)--hard to walk anywhere without stepping on them! We noticed them emerging this past weekend, and the numbers are increasing daily.
Comments: rwolford@uiuc.edu
Posted by Ron Wolford at 3:21 AM | Permalink |
May 21, 2007
Master Gardener Cicada Reports
I received a couple of reports of emerging cicadas from two University of Illinois Extension Chicago Master Gardeners.
Master Gardener Clare Mostek of La Grange Park, Illinois reported that some cicadas emerged on Sunday, May 20.
A Master Gardener from the 2006 class who lives in Lyons, Illinois which is across Ogden Avenue from Riverside/Brookfield reports that on May 5 in their shade garden under a huge Silver Maple, I had well over 100 1/2 inch holes in the soil. I was planting and was digging up them by the handfuls. The neighborhood kids were having quite a time.
Friday, May 18th and Saturday May 19th, many cicadas on top of the soil, no wings, still in their shells. Sunday morning the 20th my sidewalk under the tree, the driveway was covered with them, some had wings, some what I would call dwarfed. The cold really affected them, they were alive, but slow. I had about 20 empty shells on the trunk of the maple tree.
Comments: rwolford@uiuc.edu
Posted by Ron Wolford at 8:10 PM | Permalink |
May 21, 2007
Cicadas Popping Out
Local television stations have reported on emerging cicadas Saturday night in La Grange Park, Palos Park and Elmhurst.Posted by Ron Wolford at 2:19 AM | Permalink |
May 20, 2007
Periodical Cicada Calendar Slideshow
Science NetLinks is part of the Thinkfinity, a partnership between the Verizon Foundation and eight premier educational organizations. The Thinkfinity partners include the AAAS, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Council on Economic Education, the National Geographic Society, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the International Reading Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
The Thinkfinity partnership provides free, Internet-based content across academic disciplines. Science NetLinks' role is to provide a wealth of standards-based resources for K-12 science educators, including lesson plans, interactives and reviewed Internet resources.
Science Netlinks has a lesson called Periodical Cicada Survival on exploring defense mechanisms involved in predatory/prey relations. A part of this lesson includes an excellent slideshow, A Periodical Cicada Calendar on the cicada life cycle.
Posted by Ron Wolford at 6:14 PM | Permalink |
May 20, 2007
Lake County, IL Cicada Emergence Map
I have to commend the Lake County Forest Preserves District for the foresight to prepare an informative and interactive cicada web site and for developing excellent educational programming like the Cicadamobile on the 2007 cicada emergence.
An interactive feature of their web site is the Lake County Cicada Emergence Map which allows individuals in Lake County to map their emergence. The results will help to predict where cicadas will emerge in 2024.
Posted by Ron Wolford at 1:25 PM | Permalink |
May 14, 2007
Tree Opera
The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History developed a web site for the 2004 cicada emergence in the Eastern United States. The site has audio files of singing cicadas, an image gallery following their few weeks aboveground and a Frequently Asked Questions section.
Posted by Ron Wolford at 5:27 AM | Permalink |
May 14, 2007
Cicada Songs
The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History has an excellent section on how male cicadas produce their mating songs to attract females. The sound is made with organs called tymbals.Posted by Ron Wolford at 12:21 AM | Permalink |
May 13, 2007
Cicada Research Videos
In 2004 Cicada experts funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) discussed the biology, economic impact, geographic distribution and genetics of the Brood X periodical cicadas at a press briefing. Cicadas appear by the trillions across the northeast and mid-west every 17 years.
The Ecology of Periodical Cicadas
Biologist Keith Clay, Indiana University
Examining the Effect of Cicada Root Parasitism Using Dendochronology
Geographer James Speer, Indiana State University
Relocation and Concentration in the 2004 Emergence of Periodical Cicadas
Geographer John Odland, Indiana University
The Evolution of 13 and 17 Year Cicadas
Biologist Christine Simon, University of Connecticut
Videos require the free RealPlayer plug-in.
Posted by Ron Wolford at 2:38 PM | Permalink |
May 13, 2007
Cicada Data Audio Files
In 2004 for the emergence of the Brood X periodical cicadas the National Science Foundation produced a series of audio files with scripts that are ready for broadcast.
Chalk One Up for Suburban Sprawl
Cicadas: A Low-carb Predator Favorite
Photo Courtesy: National Science Foundation
Posted by Ron Wolford at 2:15 PM | Permalink |
May 12, 2007
Check Out Local Soil Temperatures
The periodical cicadas will emerge when soil temperatures reach around 64 F. Spectrum Technologies which manufactures and distributes affordable, leading-edge measurement information technology to the agricultural market throughout the world is monitoring local soil temperatures on their web site at http://www.specmeters.com/cicada_2007/index.html.
Spectrum is headquartered in Plainfield, Illinois.
The National Weather Service also offers daily soil temperature readings at the 4 inch level under bare soil and under sod.
Posted by Ron Wolford at 1:46 PM | Permalink |
May 9, 2007
Spectacular Cicada Emergence Video
Watch this spectacular video of the 2004 Indiana emergence of periodical cicadas set to music by Indiana University's Biology department at http://www.bio.indiana.edu/%7Ehangarterlab/broodx/broodxmovies/NSFmovie.htm.
You have to have QuickTime to view the video.
The 2007 emergence of the periodical cicada in the Chicagoland area will occur in late May when soil temperatures reach 64 F.
Posted by Ron Wolford at 9:43 AM | Permalink |
May 9, 2007
Periodical Cicadas in 2007
Something not seen since 1990 is expected to reappear this year, said a University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator.
"This spring, the Northern Illinois Brood XIII of the 17-year periodical cicadas will make another appearance in northern Illinois," said Ron Wolford. "The cicadas are expected to emerge north of a line from northern Iroquois County on the east, dipping southward to northern Sangamon County in the center of the state, and then rising northward to Moline and other Quad Cities on the west. This includes the Chicago area."
On average, emergence numbers could total over 133,000 cicadas per acre. In the past, some emergences have had as many as 1.5 million cicadas per acre.
"The timing of emergence is determined by soil temperature," he explained. "Abnormal springtime weather can delay or accelerate the timing of emergence. What causes them to emerge in a specific year is not well understood."
Full-grown brown, 3/4 inch-long periodical cicada nymphs will emerge this spring in late May. An indication of emergence is a series of soil chimneys that can be three inches high and 1/2 inch in diameter. They will also emerge through 1/2-inch diameter exit holes.
"The nymphs will burst out of the chimneys and holes around sunset and crawl up trees and shrubs," he said. "Their skins will split down their backs, and the adults will emerge.
"The adults are short-lived. Their main purpose is reproduction. Adult periodical cicadas are 1-1/2 inch long, black insects with protruding red eyes. Their clear wings have bright orange veins."
About a week after emergence, the males will congregate and start singing to attract females. Females do not have sound-producing membranes like the males. The trilling is very loud and occurs during the sunny part of the day. The mating period last for two weeks, the males die, and the singing ends. The females will lay eggs for three to four weeks. The eggs are inserted into tree and shrub stems that are up to 1-1/2 inches in diameter. A female can lay more than 600 eggs.
"The eggs will usually hatch in mid-summer about six to 10 weeks after egg laying," said Wolford. "After hatch, the new nymphs will drop from trees and shrubs and dig underground to find roots for feeding for another 17 years."
Even though periodical cicadas look a little scary, Wolford said they are not dangerous to humans or pets.
Heavy egg laying in newly planted trees can cause twigs to break with leaves dying. Newly-planted trees can be covered with nylon netting tied around the trunk, but even trees with damage may just be a little bushier.
"All that effort may not be worth it," he said. "The best control is to not plant trees the fall and spring prior to a predicted emergence in areas with a history of heavy emergence in the past. Mature trees, even when covered with cicadas, will show little damage."
Wolford recommended sitting back and enjoying this wonder of nature. "It won't occur again until 2024," he said.
For more information on periodical cicadas, he recommended U of I Extension's website "Cicadas in Illinois."
Source: Ron Wolford, Unit Educator, Urban Horticulture and Environment, rwolford@uiuc.edu
Posted by Ron Wolford at 7:22 AM | Permalink |
May 8, 2007
Cicada Essay
Listen to essayist Naomi Lewin connect the 17-year cicada season to world events. Lewin, living in Cincinnati during the 2004 emergence, also traces the bugs' place in literature, from the Bible to cookbooks.Posted by Ron Wolford at 8:14 PM | Permalink |
May 7, 2007
Helping Kids Enjoy Cicadas
Dr. Sharon Walker, Family Life Specialist at the University of Maryland says, "Insects can be scary to young children and the sight of a swarm of cicadas can be fairly frightening. So, learning about cicadas with the family will help them prepare for an unusual event that they will experience, and likely hear other children talking about."
Posted by Ron Wolford at 11:53 PM | Permalink |
May 7, 2007
Dupage County Cicada Programs
Cicada Citizen Science-Saturday, May 12
Learn identification and recording methods to help document the emergence of the 17-year cicada. Submit your findings, and receive results from the whole group. 10 a.m. to noon at Fullersburg Woods Nature Education Center in Oak Brook. Ages 9 and up. Reservations begin April 30. For more information, call (630) 850-3722.
17-Year Cicadas - Saturday, June 9
It happened in 1990 and won't take place again until 2024. Don't miss the 2007 cicada experience! Learn about these amazing insects, and ponder why they do what they do. 1 to 3 p.m. at Fullersburg Woods Nature Education Center in Oak Brook. No unaccompanied children. For more information, call (630) 850-3722.
The fun continues at an open house that will be scheduled as soon as the insects begin to emerge. Give Fullersburg Woods a buzz for updates on the date and time:
Fullersburg Woods Nature Education Center
3609 Spring Road in Oak Brook
(630) 850-8110
Posted by Ron Wolford at 11:33 PM | Permalink |
May 7, 2007
Field Museum Opens Cicada Exhibit
Cicada season is almost upon us; after seventeen years, the cicadas of Brood XIII will emerge from the ground in enormous numbers this June. The insects, which have musical mechanisms in their abdomens, will certainly be hard to ignore once they have arrived in the Chicago area. To mark the emergence of the 17-year periodical cicadas, The Field Museum will open a new exhibition, Cicadas and Emerald Ash Borers, on Friday, May 18, 2007. Cicada experts are available for comment at the Museum.
The exhibit, which will be housed in several cases on the ground floor of the Museum, will feature an extraordinary video of a 17-year periodical cicada emerging from the ground, marching up trees and shrubs and bursting out of their exoskeletons to become adult cicadas. The exhibit also contains insect specimens from the Museum's collection, a letter about cicadas written by Charles Darwin to a Chicago-area scientist about the cicadas and nine different pieces of art from Asia depicting the insect and different cultural perceptions of them-including jade cicada amulets from China that were once placed in the mouths of the dead to symbolize rebirth. Cicadas will give insight to the life cycle of the cicada, the longest-living insect species in the world, and their astonishing behavioral adaptations.
Visitors will also get a chance to learn about the emerald ash borer, an invasive species of beetle that is wreaking havoc on ash trees throughout the Chicago region. One fifth of all trees in the Chicago area are ash trees, and thus endangered. Visitors can examine emerald ash borer and damaged ash specimens, as well as learn how to prevent further damage.
If the Cicadas exhibit whets your appetite for all things creepy-crawly, be sure to also visit Underground Adventure to learn more about cicadas, as well as other subterranean life forms. Underground Adventure shrinks you to the size of a bug and turns you loose in an underground soil ecosystem. You will come face-to-face with giant earwigs, ants, a wolf spider and more. True cicada fans can even climb into a cicada exoskeleton.
Cicadas and Emerald Ash Borers will be on display at The Field Museum from Friday, May 18, 2007 through Labor Day. Admission is free with basic admission. The Museum is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with last tickets sold at 4 p.m. For more information, call (312) 922-9410, or visit http://www.fieldmuseum.org. The Field Museum is located at 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive in Chicago.
Posted by Ron Wolford at 11:08 PM | Permalink |
May 7, 2007
One Order of Fried Cicadas, Please
Listen to this report on National Public Radio's, Weekend Edition Saturday that describes how Chinese immigrants harvest cicadas for a tasty treat on the Murray State, Kentucky campus during the emergence of the 13-year periodical cicada.
Posted by Ron Wolford at 10:51 PM | Permalink |
May 7, 2007
How Cicadas Got their Name
The Smithsonian National Zoological Park web site has an interesting discussion on how cicadas got their name. Did you know that the ancient greeks revered cicadas as symbols of immortality and rebirth.Posted by Ron Wolford at 7:28 PM | Permalink |
May 7, 2007
Cicada Killer Wasps: No Help
I have recently been asked if cicada killer wasps will help to eliminate some of the emerging cicada population. Cicada killer wasps dig burrows in lawns. They do this after annual cicadas start singing. Cicada killers emerge in mid-July when most of the 13 year and 17 year cicadas have died.Posted by Ron Wolford at 6:42 PM | Permalink |
May 7, 2007
Ravinia Changes Schedule for Cicadas
Listen to an interview on National Public Radio on All Things Considered with Welz Kauffman, president and CEO of the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park discussing why Ravinia changed its concert schedule to accommodate the emergence of the periodical cicada.
Posted by Ron Wolford at 6:28 PM | Permalink |
May 7, 2007
Cicada Questions and Answers
Edith Makra who is on staff at the Morton Arboretum answers some common questions about the upcoming emergence of the periodical cicada in Chicagoland.Posted by Ron Wolford at 5:50 PM | Permalink |
May 7, 2007
Cicada Protection Netting
Most of the damage we will see to trees from cicadas will be minimal. There could be some damage to small or newly planted trees and shrubs. Damage to small branches could occur from the egg laying of the female cicada. Morton Arboretum has an excellent fact sheet on how to protect your tree or shrub with netting.
Posted by Ron Wolford at 5:26 PM | Permalink |
May 7, 2007
Lake County Cicada Mania
Lake County Forest Preserve District has developed a Cicada Mania web site with great cicada resources for teachers, cicada sounds and cicada life cycle information. They also have a CicadaMobile, which makes appearances at local schools and public events.
Posted by Ron Wolford at 3:20 AM | Permalink |
May 7, 2007
Scientist Predicts Cicada Coming Out Date
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May 22, according to periodical cicada expert Dr. Gene Kritsky,professor of Biology at the College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati. Kritsky has devised a formula to predict the date of emergence in May based on the average ambient air temperature in April. His formula is derived from a combination of historical data on emergences and corresponding weather conditions. While much about these insects remains a mystery, their appearance above ground every 17 years is predictable. They will emerge by the millions once the soil temperature exceeds 64 degrees. When the temperature reaches this point and soaking rains have softened the soil, large groups of cicadas will tunnel out of the ground after dusk, climb the nearest vertical surface and transform into winged adults. Throughout June, the loud buzz of their mating calls will drone from treetops across northern Illinois and parts of neighboring states. After reproducing, they will lay eggs and die. The eggs will hatch in August, the nymphs will retreat underground and the cycle will repeat again in 2024. The date of emergence does not vary much from one generation to the next, but can be affected by unusual spring weather conditions. The average ambient temperature in April was 46.3 degrees at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, approximately 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than the historical average, according to the National Weather Service. Dr. Gene Kritsky is recognized as one of the world's foremost authorities on the biology of the periodical cicada, and he was a frequent guest on national broadcast news and in print media during the 2004 Brood X emergence in the eastern U.S. He will appear at two cicada-related events at Ryerson Conservation Area in Deerfield in June. On Saturday, June 2, Dr. Kritsky will speak about his book, Periodical Cicadas: The Plague and the Puzzle, which covers the history and biology of periodical cicadas, and the evolutionary mysteries of the different broods. The lecture is from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and costs $10 per person. Registration is required. On Sunday, June 3, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., all ages are invited to Cicada Mania!, a FREE special event at Ryerson Woods. Dr. Kritsky will conduct a family-oriented chat. Forest Preserve naturalists will explain the emergence process as visitors observe the insects first-hand in one of the preserve's marked "emergence zones." The CicadaMobile and its interactive exhibits will be open for exploration. Guests also can catch a screening of the award-winning short film, The Return of the 17-year Cicada. Music, snacks, wagon rides, games and crafts round out the day. For more information about these programs or to register, look online at www.LCFPD.org/cicadas or call 847-968-3321
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Posted by Ron Wolford at 1:44 AM | Permalink |
May 7, 2007
Cicadablog: Cicada Activities for Kids
A father in Oak Park, Illinois has created an excellent blog called Cicadablog: Our Record of Periodical Cicadas in Oak Park, Illinois during Spring 2007. The blog describes the activities he and his sons plan to do before and after the emergence. The boys have hunted for cicadas, taken the soil temperature and looked for cicada burrows. The blog has a great section on local cicada events and programs, plus a listing of cicada books for kids. This site is a must see for kids and adults.
Posted by Ron Wolford at 1:10 AM | Permalink |
May 6, 2007
Cicada Exhibition at Notebaert Nature Museum
April 21, 2007- July 29, 2007
While Chicago and suburban residents anxiously await the emergence of periodical cicadas this June, the Notebaert Nature Museum opens Magicicada: The Magic Cicada, a special exhibition all about the insect, on Saturday, April 21.
Magicicada: The Magic Cicada is a multi-media exhibition that features specimens from the Chicago Academy of Sciences' collections; a two and a half foot long cicada sculpture, life cycle photographs by cicada enthusiast, Roy Troutman, artists' collection of cicada exuvia (skins left behind during the molt process) created by Chicago artist Colleen Plumb. Free with general admission.
Special Cicada Programming
Cicada Symphonies
Saturdays and Sundays in June EXCEPT June 16 and June 17
11 a.m. to 3 p.m., ongoing
Seventeen years growing underground and now they are emerging - Do not miss this opportunity! Join us as we reveal the magic of magicicada, the periodical cicadas set to descend on Chicago this summer. Discover how they make their distinctive sound, pin and label your own specimen and play a cicada "instrument" to mimic their songs.
Cicada Sing-Along with Musician Erin Flynn
Saturday, June 9 and Saturday, June 23
11 a.m. and 12 p.m.
Join musician and educator Erin Flynn for songs and games all about the 17-year cicadas set to emerge in Chicago this summer. Children will build their own instrument to sing like cicadas and learn about the lives of these fascinating creatures. This program is free for children of all ages and their caregivers.
Posted by Ron Wolford at 11:59 PM | Permalink |
May 6, 2007
Cicada Cooking Tips and Recipes
Yes, you can join moles, squirrels and birds in the feeding frenzy that occurs when the cicadas emerge. Cicadas are at their edible best just after they emerge before their shells harden. They are high in protein and have a nut-like taste.
The University of Maryland has put together an 11 page recipe booklet called Cicada-Licious: Cooking and Enjoying Periodical Cicadas with recipes like Soft-Shelled Cicadas where live cicadas are marinated in worchestershire sauce for several hours or how about a delicious cicada pizza with a liberal sprinking of cicadas as a topping.
Bon Appetit!!!!
Posted by Ron Wolford at 11:18 PM | Permalink |
May 6, 2007
Cicadas: Unwelcome Wedding Guests
Are you planning a wedding in the Chicagoland area in June? Are you concerned about having to say your vows with the deafening noise of thousands of male cicadas singing to attract females? You might want to check the Cicada Wedding Planner web site at http://www.cicadamania.com/wedding.html.
Posted by Ron Wolford at 9:39 PM | Permalink |
