This Spring, the nation will see unprecedented numbers of insects as Brood XIX will overlap with Brood XIII and emerge in the southeast as the ground warms to about 64 degrees. These caravans of cicadas return every thirteen and seventeen years; their overlap is what is causing the largest geographic brood in the nation. Averaging over 1 million per acre and expected to spread across 16 states, cicada expert John Cooley estimates, adding the numbers, "...are mind-boggling. Easily hundreds of trillions, maybe quadrillions. It is cicada-palooza.”

While cicadas can be mistaken for the unrelated locusts, these insects have no interest in the freedom of Moses' people. They emerge for two things only, to feast and to mate. Mating cicadas' songs can exceed 110 decibels, and with their numbers in these broods, it is likely to be loud. Cooley shared that the mating song of the cicada sounds a little something like this: "...ffaairro (his pitch rising), ffaairro, I'm just a bachelor, ffaairro ffaairro, I'm looking for a partner,.....

Following mating, the cicada nymph will fall to the ground and then search for food. Cicadas feast on tissue called xylem, which carries mostly water and a bit of nutrients, using their proboscis like a tiny straw.

They will spend nearly their entire lives drinking up this xylem. Like a big gulp on a road trip, this excessive xylem consumption provides cicadas with a unique urination flow peeing two to three times stronger than elephants, and four to five times stronger then holding it for all of Dune two as discovered by Georgia Tech biophysics professor and known sicko, Saad Bhamla.

Saad discovered and became interested in cicada piss after a trip to the Amazon when he happened upon a tree the locals called a "weeping tree" because liquid was flowing down, like the plant was crying. It was cicada pee. Bhamla shared as he beamed. The cicada will serve as a minor annoyance for people, a pest for small trees and plants, a feast for caterpillars, and reclaim their title as the titans of tinkle.

AP Story