Bug-eyed about invading cicadas? They might teach you some life lessons.
Nancy Hinkle, professor of entomology at the University of Georgia, pictured here with a periodical cicada in 2004. She says she plans to drive 60 or 70 miles to northern Georgia to witness the emergence of Brood X, which she has not seen in 17 years.
Courtesy of Nancy Hinkle
Laurel, Md.
Billions of boisterous cicadas are about to burst forth in the eastern United States, and Nancy Hinkle is getting ready to hop in her car.聽
Not to get away from them. To study and observe them in awe.
There are so many unknowns about these buzzing, 17-year periodical bugs, says Dr. Hinkle, a professor of entomology at the University of Georgia. Among them: 鈥淗ow do [the bugs] synchronize their emergence?鈥� and 鈥淗ow do they know that it鈥檚 been 17 years and they should all emerge at the same time?鈥�
Why We Wrote This
鈥淎ll I really need to know I learned from insects.鈥� OK, our reporter didn鈥檛 quite say that. But with billions of cicadas bearing down, he鈥檚 got the buzz on a way to approach the experience with humility and even wonder.
For many people, the impending swarms may be a source of annoyance or even fear. For her, these open questions enhance her sense of wonder.聽
鈥淥nly by experiencing this for yourself can one appreciate just how amazing the Brood X emergence is,鈥� Professor Hinkle says. 鈥淚鈥檓 going to have to travel 60 or 70 miles just to be able to see them.鈥�
The rest of us may not fully share her聽enthusiasm, but entomologists like her say these insects deserve some appreciation 鈥� and may even have lessons for humans in our current times.
They won鈥檛 eat your flowers or veggie garden. Their locations vary for groups or 鈥渂roods鈥� that emerge on different cycles, generally east of the Mississippi River. Each brood is identified by a Roman numeral.聽Brood X, which has been recorded in descriptions dating back to the , is expected to appear this month in the District of Columbia and 鈥� and has already been spotted emerging in Georgia this week.
鈥淥ne of the things that cicadas can teach us is that we鈥檙e all connected,鈥� says DeAnna Beasley, an assistant professor and integrative ecologist at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, who is eagerly waiting to see if the cicadas will emerge in her part of Tennessee.聽
And to Michael Raupp, professor emeritus at the University of Maryland, there is an 鈥渋nteresting parallel鈥� between human society鈥檚 pandemic cycle from reclusiveness toward reopening and the bugs鈥� emergence after 鈥渓iving a COVID-like existence for 17 years underground.鈥�
What can we learn from a bug鈥檚 life? Here are a few of the lessons we might draw from these small but active insects.
- Work beneath the surface. The 17-year cicadas spend the majority of their lives below ground, fulfilling an important ecological function of . In an age of social media, we, people, would do well to remember that much of life鈥檚 work takes place beneath the surface, when there is no buzz, when no one is watching.聽
- Get out when it is warm. The cicadas emerge once the soil temperatures reach around several inches down. For the cicadas, buried below ground for years, the surfacing comes in the spring. For those of us who have been hidden inside, perhaps buried in our computer screens, the cicadas remind us to, as Professor Raupp says, 鈥済et up and out,鈥� especially when it is warm outside.
- Rise together. The billions of bugs who push up at around the same time do so for a practical reason, survival. When they rise together, . For a world grown accustomed to division and facing significant challenges ahead, the Brood X cicadas鈥� emergence can remind us to rise together in order to survive.聽
- Leave your old self behind, come out of your shell. Once out in the open, often after climbing high up in a tree, the cicadas , leaving the shell that once provided protection behind. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just their outer shell that they鈥檝e outgrown,鈥� Professor Beasley says. For people who may be struggling to move forward, and attached to their past protective shell, the cicadas offer inspiration. It is only when the shells are gone that they can fly.
- When necessary make some noise. A primary reason the cicadas attract our attention is because of their mating call, which the males make to the females. The bugs don鈥檛 spend the majority of their 17-year lives hollering, however. Professor Hinkle calls them 鈥渉armless鈥� and 鈥渘ature鈥檚 pruning service,鈥� due to the way their egg-laying habits can affect pencil-thin tree limbs. They鈥檙e usually quiet and below the surface. The great noise they make is only for the survival of the species.聽
So if the bugs bother you this spring, remember, they鈥檒l be gone in a matter of . That boisterous bumble has a purpose 鈥� to replenish the earth, so that one of the world鈥檚 wonders can come again, to be eyed, examined, and maybe even enjoyed again 17 years hence.