Invasion of Brood X - The 17 Year Cicadas
They're here! The nymphs come out of the ground, attach themselves to a tree branch or anything they can hold onto, and break out of their shell. We started counting the empty exoskeletons on May 11. A week later we had counted over 3000 in our backyard! Here's Teena (short for Seventeena -- no, we didn't name them all) coming out of her shell. Look at the tiny wings! Now Teena has really broken out and is unfurling her wings. We know she's a girl because of the ovipositor (egg-laying thing) on her rear end.
The wings are complete. She'll sit here for another hour or so as her body darkens and hardens. Actually, poor Teena became breakfast for a lucky bird before she had a chance to fully molt and fly off. Teena has lots of friends however. Birds can't eat them all! They do seem to love our blueberry bush. Up close and personal.