The shrieking noise spreading across golf courses in at least a dozen states can mean only one thing. No, it is not golfers screeching about green speeds. That shrill sound means another brood of periodical cicadas has emerged from the ground like something from The Walking Dead, though some might find it difficult to recognize the difference.
Every 17 years, or 13, depending on the brood, periodical cicadas rise from the ground in overwhelming numbers to inundate lawns, golf courses and forests across their range. This spring, cicadas, or their exorcised outer shells, from Brood XIV can be found in the canopies of trees, on branches or twigs, in the grass or on fences. They can also be found on posts supporting tee signs and ball washers or just about anything above ground, such as your leg, your shoes or your dog. Although they look like something from a sci-fi flick with their bulbous red eyes, pitch black body, bright orange wings and grotesque, zombie-like appearance, cicadas are nothing more than a harmless, if not haunting, nuisance. That is, unless you consider cicada pee harmful.
These spooky-looking creatures have no interest in getting tangled in people's hair. Their sole purpose in life is to mate and — one way or another — die. The sound they make comes from randy males seeking amorous arthropods of the opposite sex so they can hook up and propagate the species before they die or get eaten by something higher up the food chain — like Ohio State's Dr. Dave Shetlar.
Looking back four years ago at the emergence of a previous brood, Shetlar, professor emeritus of entomology at Ohio State, served up a reminder — literally — that cicadas can be a food source for more than just birds.
Throughout his 35-year career in academia, Shetlar has provided hundreds of golf course superintendents with timely insect-management tips. Four years ago, he gave advice of a different nature when, drawing upon his skills in entomophagy (the art of cooking bugs for consumption), Shetlar told us not only are cicadas edible, but with 11 herbs and spices they can be downright tasty. And he was more than willing to put his money where his mouth is.
His tips on preparing fettuccine a la cicada were all the rage in 2021 when a news crew from WCMH-TV in Columbus was on hand as he cooked up a skillet full of pests and pasta.
According to the U.S. Forest Service, there are 15 broods of cicadas found across the U.S. A dozen of them are on a 17-year cycle, while the other three have a 13-year internal clock. The system of naming and distinguishing 17- and 13-year species using Roman numerals was developed in 1902 by U.S. Department of Agriculture entomologist Charles Marlatt.
Brood XIV is the nation's second largest swarm, covering parts of Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia at populations up to 1.5 million cicadas per acre, according to Gene Kritsky, Ph.D., professor emeritus of biology at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati. Their mind-numbing numbers are an example of evolution at work, as they arrive all at once so as to overwhelm potential predators and guarantee the species's survival.
According to Kritsky, juvenile cicadas spend their lives deep in the soil at depths of 8-12 inches and emerge from their long hibernation when soil temperatures reach 64-65 degrees. He has developed a Cicada Safari web site and mobile app for all things cicada. The free Cicada Safari app is available on the Apple App Store or Google Play.
Brood XIV was first detected this year in late April in southern Tennessee and northern Georgia. They have since emerged throughout northern Tennessee, into Kentucky and in parts of the Cincinnati area. With a widespread range, Brood XIV soon will emerge throughout its northern range as soil temperatures rise in those locations, Kritsky said.
After emerging from the soil, the cicadas shed their exoskeleton and the mating process begins with males wooing prospective mates with their haunting song. Females will then lay their eggs in slits they create in trees. When the eggs hatch about two months later, the nymphs drop to the ground and burrow deep into the soil where they remain for 17 years and the cycle begins anew.
While underground, the juveniles survive for up to 17 years on plant roots and other organic matter. In their short life above ground (about a month) they consume tree sap, and a lot of it, up to 300 times their weight. It is understandable that relief comes in the way of a voluminous jet-like spray commonly known as cicada rain, according to researchers at Georgia Tech.
The presence of periodical cicadas were known by American Indians for centuries, but the Pilgrims were the first Europeans to recognize them in North America when what is now Brood XIV greeted them in Plymouth Colony in 1634.
To their credit, the Pilgrims stayed anyway.