Yesterday I found my first cicada of the summer, which means it's CICADA SEASON, my very favorite time of the year! The cicada I found was in the street, and it was all squashed, but I didn't care about that. I just ate it up anyway! Yum! Mom was surprised because she didn't think it was time for cicadas yet, but she was wrong about that. We also found one of those empty cicada skin things stuck to our patio step. So we know that the cicadas are coming out, and it's not a moment too soon, if you ask me!
In Latin, the word
cicada means "buzzer," and cicadas got that name because they make a buzzing noise. The cicadas that we have around here are called "dog-day cicadas," and another name for them is
Tibicen. They are dark green, and they come out every year during the "dog days" of summer, so that all the dogs can eat them.
But there's another kind of cicada that's called a "periodical" cicada. Instead of coming out every year, it only comes out once every 13 years or 17 years. This kind of cicada is called
Magicicada. I think this name means that these cicadas use some kind of magic to count the years while they are underground. The last time a bunch of these 17-year cicadas came out around here was in 1998. This group of cicadas is called The Kansan Brood, which I think would make a good name for a rock band. These cicadas live in Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma, and they will be back in 2015, which is only 5 years away! I can hardly wait! I will be 12 years old then, which is the same age Gabe is now, and I will be able to eat tons and tons of cicadas. Wow!
But guess what -- I might not even have to wait that long because there's a 13-year cicada called The Great Southern Brood, and it's supposed to come out in the South and the Midwest next year in 2011. Oh boy oh boy oh boy! So much exciting stuff to look forward to! Don't you wish you were me?
