[Nancy's Hamsters]

Originally Posted by souffle

oh gosh that is quite amazing Nancy.! I'd be staying indoor though. They are not as pretty as hamsters are they!

The best thing is once fully winged they fly to the tree tops and you won't see any on ground level until it is about to die, and even then it seldom last as every animal will eat them once down on the ground. Even jumping spiders which are not even a forth their size. However it is said don't run a mower or any kind of lawn equipment unless you want a swarm of eligible ladies to fly on you. The vibration of the mower and sound confuses the females into thinking you and the mower are a big male waiting to court.
However I'm not to sure on this fact cause many of my neighbors have been out mowing and I haven't seen any swatting at bugs while doing the lawn LOL

Originally Posted by SKB_Hamsters

This was so interesting and fascinating seeing the cicada life cycle from nymph to adult. They look fairly big.

They average about 1-2 inches depending on sex. Here's a young adult male who fell off it's skin shell a wee bit to soon that I helped to a shaded maple tree so it could continue to dry and be able to fly and mate.

This was him starting to darken up in his body. Note he has one wing slightly damaged from not drying his wings properly. He was able to fly but chances are not in his favor of successfully mating as he will need to fly to the tallest tree top to get the females attention above other more suitable males.

Originally Posted by freyashamsters

They look really interesting and they were awesome photos Nancy - can't say I prefer them to hamsters though!

They are not anywhere near as adorable as a Hamster However they are fascinating to observe, and we won't see this brood until 2033 so I am thankful to God I got to observe and enjoy these insects this year.

There is a different Cicada that emerges every year but they are not as open on their emergence, and they all emerge alone so the only way you know they have come is by their song in the trees which only occurs when they are about to mate. These Cicadas are twice the size of the Periodical Cicadas and are all black with blue eyes.