Tuesday, May 10, 2011

13 years later...

Lately we have been visited by some, very ugly, winged friends. This is the year of the Cicada, a giant winged insect with beady red eyes.

Our front porch was covered in their molted exoskeletons. It's very weird.
Here is a pic I took of a tree in our front yard. The leaves a completely covered in these bugs.

The short story is that these bugs burrowed into the ground, 13 years ago, and then (as a worm like larvae) burrowed it's way to the top of the soil. They then attach themselves to the closest tree (or front porch steps) where they then lie in wait and molt. They then emerge from their shell as a purely white fly, which quickly turns black and within hours, will fly away and choose a mate.