Cicada Song

Woke up this morning to cicada swarmageddon in our neighborhood, and a few of them had made it to our backyard. Apparently, this particular breed named Magicicada Brood II emerges once every 17 years. Much of its lifespan is spent underground as immature nymphs, sucking tree root sap to survive. They shed their exoskeleton once they emerge from the ground, make the loudest mating calls of any insect on earth, mate, lay eggs, and then die shortly after. Once the eggs hatch, the newborns insects make their way to the ground from the trees, and bury themselves underground and next seventh-year cycle begins.