So just what is a cicada?
Where I grew up we called them "Kadie did's", is my redneck showing?
Hiya Staff,
I am also a Californian, I moved to Virginia just in time for the Big Swarm. Cicadas are an insect that is typically about two-thirds the size of one of my fingers, has wings and big red eyes. You can hear them in the summertime in the South- the sound like someone trying to start a balky weed-whacker. They look like a cross between a Yellowjacket and one of those giant, evil horseflies that we had at Lejeune. They're pretty big- you don't want to run into one on your scooter with an open-face helmet. They're also utterly harmless. I tried to photograph one for my webpage, but he took up the Cicada equivalent of a martial-arts stance- got real defensive on me, so I left him alone. Pretty cool little beasties, although the green fireflies we have here are still my favorite bug.
I'm not sure but I do know they taste like chicken...
This species shows up every seventeen years and the males make a hell of a lot of noise when they're looking for love. Fortunately I didn't have any around my house, although a lot of the areas around me had them.