# 17 year cicadas



## robo mantis (May 11, 2007)

You guys ready for the big swarm? I've never lived through one but hear its bad. But i'm realy excited to get all the free food for my mantids.


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## Rick (May 11, 2007)

I grew up in Illinois and never got to witness one. The yearly cicadas even got pretty thick in the summer too.


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## robo mantis (May 12, 2007)

Yeah they are supposed to start within the next 24-48 hours i'll get pictures when they start going everywhere.


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## Ian (May 12, 2007)

Ship me some over!

I have never seen one in the flesh ^_^


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## robo mantis (May 12, 2007)

Lol i'll try :wink: They come out with no mouths! they don't need to because all they do is mate, lay eggs, and die. But they will be around over a month :shock:


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## Ian (May 12, 2007)

Awesome stuff.

I would love to see an outbreak of them.

The only outbreak I have seen over here is an outbreak of slugs when I have left the hose on in the flowerbed.


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## randyardvark (May 12, 2007)

your forgetting wasps at theend of autum and ants in summer, i want to see cicadas full stop, do they sing loud?


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## robo mantis (May 12, 2007)

Yes they sing loud and there is an estimate of 4 million per acre!!!


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## Ian (May 12, 2007)

Oh yes, the wasps.

4M per acre? you will be shipping me over a few hundred!


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## Ben.M (May 12, 2007)

Man they look cool  8)


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## robo mantis (May 12, 2007)

Yep thats what we'll see for a month.


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## robo mantis (May 21, 2007)

Yes!!!!!! They are supposed to arrive this week!!!!!!


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## Rick (May 21, 2007)

Just read up on them and the 17 year kind didn't occur where I lived in Illinois. We had the annual cicadas just like we do here.


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## robo mantis (May 21, 2007)

Yeah my area have a big spawn of them  (rememeber the 60 mantis eggs i had)? I hatched them all and released them  they will feast.


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## robo mantis (May 31, 2007)

WOW ok i went to my aunts house and millions are in her yard i must have 70 cicadas and her dog couldn't stop eating them :lol: . I hear people have so many they are eating them (even cooking them on the grill). They said the cicadas taste like walnuts because they ate off the tree roots while in the nymph stage. I will get pictures soon. They arn't as loud as a thought.


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## OGIGA (May 31, 2007)

Wow, that's nice. I don't think I've seen them around here. What region are they in?


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## robo mantis (May 31, 2007)

the east and part of midwest


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## robo mantis (Jun 1, 2007)

Here are some pictures (many died overnight).






The Bachelors pad






Also while hunting yesterday i found a pair mating and i gave them their own jar.


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## Ian (Jun 1, 2007)

Nice photos Mark  

Stunning little creatures.


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## Rick (Jun 1, 2007)

If you're trying to breed them I doubt it will work. Females lay thier eggs in the branches of live trees and the nymphs drop down into the dirt.


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## robo mantis (Jun 1, 2007)

I know they arn't mating yet. I will probably let them go i'm just trying to observe them because yesterday i was watching how they mate. I will try to let some go after i see them mating. It would be fun to watch them lay eggs so i'll try getting a little tree in there thick enough for eggs. Also does anyone know how long does it take for her to lay eggs after mating.


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## OGIGA (Jun 1, 2007)

Did you collect all those to feed to your mantises? :shock:


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## robo mantis (Jun 1, 2007)

Not all of them.


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## Morpheus uk (Jun 1, 2007)

I love cicads, only ever seen one adult while on a holiday in corfu, even then it was at a top of a tree lol, would be interesting if you can breed them, cant see why not, suppose you could watch were a female lays, then get a tray full of soil and put it out directly below the eggs, though feeding going to be treaky :wink:


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## robo mantis (Jun 1, 2007)

No the nymphs feed off tree roots and they take 17 years to grow to adult so i don't think i'll keep them in a tray. I plan on either after mating or if they do lay eggs i will put the nymphs outside.


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## OGIGA (Jun 1, 2007)

They take 17 years to become adult??? Sounds like something that should be extinct by now...


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## robo mantis (Jun 1, 2007)

yes every 17 years the nymphs emerge in the night then molt then mate then die.


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## OGIGA (Jun 2, 2007)

Do you only seem them once every 17 years or do you see a different generation of them each year?


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## robo mantis (Jun 2, 2007)

The first one every 17 years the same generation comes out. (no other generations). I have heard though that some come out every 13 years. But no this is not an everyday thing.


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## Rick (Jun 2, 2007)

> Do you only seem them once every 17 years or do you see a different generation of them each year?


There are many types of cicadas. This is only one kind. There are other species that emerge EVERY year. They occur in alot of places in the US. We have the annual ones here that come out every summer. They look similar but are green.


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## robo mantis (Jun 2, 2007)

same here


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## Way.Of.The.Mantis (Jun 4, 2007)

I heard that cicadas make more noise than Heathrow airport (the largest international airport in the world), the cicadas make a noise of 96db, wheras te aircraft at Heathrow make a noise of just 70db!!

Of course you peeps who live in the US will know better, but apparantly many people move out of a state for a month or two when the cicadas season kicks in, then you have to shovel them literally out of your house..

Good 'ol blighty.


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## robo mantis (Jun 4, 2007)

I like the loud ear piercing noise lol.


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