By Kim Kalunian, WPRO News
There’s been a lot of buzz about the swarm of cicadas scheduled to inundate the east coast with their noisy wings, abandoned brown exoskeletons and general bugginess. But Rhode Islanders can breathe easy. Why? They’re not coming here.
Cicadas have gotten a bit of a bum rap because of the frequent use of the misnomer “locust.” These guys are not the same stuff plagues are made of, they’re from an entirely different order altogether.
The life and times of the periodical cicada isn’t as much a story from Bible as it is a fairy tale; even their name, “magicicada,” gives a nod to the fantastical nature of the bug.
The winged insects spend most of their lives (think 13-17 years) underground feeding on fluids from roots and emerge once mature. This year, the east coast is slated to be greeted by Brood II, a family of cicadas we haven’t seen since 1996.
The cicadas have become eerily good at synchronizing their re-emergence, and media outlets have done their fair share of warning the masses that there will be “billions” of the bugs around.
Whether that figure is even remotely accurate is a bit of a moot point for us Rhode Islanders, since we aren’t supposed to get any cicadas, something that could be attributed to the temperature of the soil in these parts.
The good news is that Rhode Islanders don’t have to worry about the cicadas ruining a wedding. The bad news is those dying to try their new cicada fricassee recipe won’t be able to do that either.
All you have to do it sit back and watch as the southern east coast is swarmed by the buzzing brown bugs that leave behind their bizarre, crunchy exoskeletons.
Oh, and prepare for the annual cicadas. Because those are a whole different story.
