# Late cicadas



## bubforever (Jun 9, 2007)

I live in Illinois and this is the year that the 17 year cicadas come out. Well living next to a forest you would think they would already have been out for a few weeks... no. They just came out yesterday, better than never but still isn't that a bit late?


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## Rick (Jun 9, 2007)

Are these the 17 year ones that are black with red eyes or the regular green ones that come out every year? I have yet to see the annual cicadas around here yet.


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## Rick (Jun 10, 2007)

Check out this news article:

http://www.wral.com/news/strange/story/1487885/

Illinois Boy Discovers Blue-Eyed Cicada

Posted: Today at 2:49 a.m.

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. — It was a one-in-a-million find. Literally. Most of the 17-year cicadas that have emerged in recent weeks in parts of the Midwest have red eyes. But a 6-year-old boy in this Chicago suburb found a rare blue-eyed one in his backyard Friday.

Nicholas Wagner's mother, Maria, said her son learned about the blue-eyed bugs in kindergarten, so he decided to go out and hunt for one himself.

"`Mommy, I found a blue-eyed cicada!'" he yelled upon the discovery, his mother recalled. "He's been looking for a long time."

While the boy's find was rare, it's not unheard of.

The blue eyes are caused by a genetic variation, said Gene Kritsky, author of "Periodical Cicadas: The Plague and the Puzzle."

Blue-eyed cicadas are indeed one in a million, Kritsky confirmed. "Of course," he added, "there are hundreds of millions of cicadas."


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## bubforever (Jun 10, 2007)

> Are these the 17 year ones that are black with red eyes or the regular green ones that come out every year? I have yet to see the annual cicadas around here yet.


Yeah theyre the 17 year ones.


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## robo mantis (Jun 10, 2007)

Yeah i'm on the way home from camping and a million cicadas attacked our car :lol: they flew everywhere


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## bubforever (Jun 13, 2007)

Just another question does anybody know what the different sounds a cicada makes means? They seem to sound different as the day progresses: in the morning there are low toned weeehhohh's then during the day there's the regular buzzing and mixes of repeated clicks.


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## robo mantis (Jun 13, 2007)

I think different mating calls


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## Asa (Jun 13, 2007)

> I think different mating calls


Yep, that's right.


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