17-year cicadas

The 17-year cicadas are out in force now in the Chicagoland area. They are pretty interesting to watch once they emerge from the ground. They live for 17 years underground feeding off tree roots as a nymph and then an alarm clock goes off and they all emerge from the ground in amazing numbers. They climb up the nearest tree, plant, or tall grass and molt their exoskeleton. If they do not molt correctly they die or have deformed wings. When they molt they are white but within a few hours they turn completely black except for their eyes and transparent wings. They live in the trees as adults and once they mate they die. They only live above ground for 30-40 days but for that short time they are very loud and leave their exoskeletons everywhere. In areas where they are abundent there can be piles 3-4 inches deep of shells. So on to the images. Hope you like them and get to see and hear them in person some day.

Nymph finding it's way to a tree


Molting


Drying it's wings


Adult colors