If you live on the east coast of the United States, you've probably experienced invasions of cicadas. You would know if you experienced the invasion of these bugs because the racket the male cicadas make can be extremely deafening. The buzzing has been measured at being up to 94 ear splitting decibels.
These winged creatures have been biding their time to come to the surface. When in wingless nymph form, cicadas spend 13 to 17 years a few feet underground, sucking on tree roots. They emerge only when the ground temperature reaches 64 degrees Fahrenheit. After a few weeks up in the trees, they will die and their offspring will go underground for another 13 to 17 years.
What do they do when they come up? They have sex. Hence, the loud sound that the males make is a mating call.
Since fifteen broods of the cicada emerge every 13 to 17 years so, somewhere on the east coast every year there is an invasion. We're talking a HUGE invasion too! Researchers estimate there are 30 billion to 1 trillion cicadas lurking underground waiting to come up at just the right moment.
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