Summer of the Cicada

Cicada Nymph Skin

While we were digging the Mother's Day fire pit, we saw some larvae or nymphs that I misidentified as grubs. I did this because I knew that a cicada emergence was not expected. 

I was wrong and I was right.

I was right because a cicada emergence was not expected. It is four years too early. The next big emergence is not expected until 2021. I was wrong because they were, in fact, cicada nymphs. 

They're back, four years early!

A Baltimore Sun article, As cicadas emerge four years early, scientists wonder if climate change is providing a nudge, answered my question. 

Let the sound of summertime begin. The cicadas are loud--louder than a jet. 

I actually saw a hatched cicada the other day and failed to take a picture of it. But now that I know they are coming as soon as the soil temperature gets a bit warmer, I will be prepared for the emergence.

It sounds like a bad movie title, "The Emergence."

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD