A couple of Seventeen Year Cicada photos

I hiked a couple of trails around the Cincinnati Nature Center on Sunday and spotted scads of Seventeen Year Cicadas emerging. They weren't so numerous in the woods yet but along side the meadows there were hundreds.

The newly emerged adults are cream colored before their exoskeleton hardens:



And here's an adult with the nymph shell left behind:

Quick Cicada Round Up

As I noted in my previous entry, I did spot a couple of early emerging seventeen-year cicadas when I was kayaking on Sunday. I also received an email from the Cincinnati Nature Center saying their cicadas are emerging and they are hosting a lecture on the insects:

Cicada Lecture at Rowe Woods
Learn all about the 17-year periodical cicadas that will be emerging this summer in Clermont County. Dr. Gene Kritsky, professor at the College of Mt. St. Joseph will share his knowledge of these unique insects.
Other Info:
Age Group:Adults
Date:5/31/2008 Time: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Current/Maximum Registered: 8/50
Cost: $6; with CNC membership $4.

WCPO also posted a small entry on the east side cicadas. Can you spot what's wrong with this quote?

Kritsky says 17-year cicadas have a life span of only about two weeks.

I weep for the state of journalism in my home town.

The Return of the Cicada

WCPO reported today that Cincinnati is due to see a return of the periodic cicada this summer. I was in town for the 1991 and the 2004 emergence and those were spectacular. This year's brood is more to the east of the city than those previous emergences so I'll probably have to take a drive to see it in all its glory.

Photo by tlindenbaum by way of Flickr.