We had been reading online reports of Periodical Cicada adults emerging by the hundreds on Saturday night in towns like Brookfield and LaGrange Park (see earlier post, below). So, Dad went over to Brookfield on this cool morning (mid 40s — the kids had Sunday school, so they couldn’t come). He searched a quiet suburban neighborhood southwest of the intersection of Prairie and the railroad tracks.
He found dozens, but not hundreds, of shed cicada skins on trees, fences, and other upright surfaces.
There were also dead nymphs and a half dead adult on the sidewalk, plus some cicadas that died while shedding (which we brought home to photograph).
The House Sparrows were fighting over some of the remains.
It seems like a rough life for Periodical Cicadas, especially for the first ones that emerge. It will get warmer again on Monday, and stay warm for the rest of the week. So we’ll see what happens then….
May 20th, 2007 at 7:10 pm My husband and I went to the Brookfield Zoo today. We didn’t see any Cicadas in the Zoo. This could be due to the large population of birds in the Zoo. The birds could be getting to the insects first. Thanks for everyone’s input.
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:27 pm We had cicadas galore in front of our house in Elmhurst this morning. Here is a link to some photos we took: http://www.flickr.com/photos/momtogirltwins/
May 22nd, 2007 at 8:27 pm Great blog! We live in Berwyn and were out bug-hunting today. We found a few dozen cicada shells and a wing, but no live adults yet. Our neighbors brought four adult periodical cicadas back from Westmont for us to admire, though. They’re out there!
May 23rd, 2007 at 2:36 pm Definitely heard first cicadca of the season at 1430 CDT in Naperville, old part of town, Wednesday.
May 24th, 2007 at 11:36 am I have had many holes and “chimneys” in my back yard in Palos Heights for weeks but no signs of the emergence until today. Saw numerous shells and a live cicada outside his shell today on my front tree. My kids have also reported seeing shells and nymphs in the Beverly area of Chicago as well.
May 24th, 2007 at 1:34 pm My daughter was playing a softball game last night in Villa Park. She said they saw in the grass past the dirt field the cicadas coming up out of their holes onto the grass. She said there were alot of them. She also said it was gross yet cool at the same time!! I want to see them in Berwyn. Anyone else in Berwyn see them yet?
May 25th, 2007 at 9:13 am gross!!!!!!
May 25th, 2007 at 4:41 pm I just started seeing them in River Grove today. There are empty shells all over the back lawn and attached to the side of the garage, and there are a few ownerless wings on the sidewalk in front of my house (probably got eaten by the birds–they’ve been having a field day on the lawn the past couple days). I haven’t seen the actual living bugs yet, but they’re obviously around here somewhere!
May 31st, 2007 at 11:24 am I saw a bunch at Hines Hospital in the front as you enter the property. The birds are having a ball - all over the area. I got to hear the cicadas - pretty loud. Then I spotted them while waiting for my bus at 1st ave & cermak rd - right next to a golf course. Again - very loud!! One fell on ground next to me the size of my pinkie. I’m glad I got to finally experience it. I can’t get enuf!!!!
May 31st, 2007 at 1:53 pm Has anyone noticed how many “mutated”-looking cicadas there are? I’ve been taking my high school students out to look at them and we see a very large number of cicadas that look like their wings and / or body are really mangled. Does anyone know why this is?
June 1st, 2007 at 6:14 am Hi, Betsy, Thanks for you comment! It’s our impression that things have to go just right for a cicada to shed its nymphal skin and then inflate its wings properly. If the wings brush against something, or if another cicada brushes against it, or if it loses its grip and falls to the ground, then its soft exoskeleton gets deformed and quickly hardens into the non-normal shape. So, it seems that its usually an environmental problem, not genetic. Then most of the cicadas that succeeded crawl or fly away into the treetops, leaving the deformed ones behind. That makes it seem like there is a larger proportion of deformed ones than there really is. A few days ago Ethan saw two deformed cicadas mating, so maybe its not the end of the line for them, despite their misfortune. Eric Kids’ Cicada Hunt >