The cicadas are coming, the cicadas are coming

Their little bodies have been maturing in the ground right under your feet for 17 years … almost two decades.
This is the cicada, one of the most unusual and strange members of the natural world.  A hibernating insect, you say?  A creature there right under your feet just waiting to climb out?  Yes.  But, don’t worry, they live about 8 inches below the surface.

The entire eastern United States is full of them.  Loud noise and creepiness for you, food, including rich protein sources for others, all under the name of, this year, “Brood X.”  The insects will probably emerge in Northern Virginia sometime in May.