Laurence Pringle
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Cicadas! Strange and Wonderful
The Story Behind the Book Every summer during my childhood in western New York, dog-day cicadas buzzed from high in trees. And every summer, my brother and I searched tree trunks for their dry, hollow nymph bodies. We competed: who could find the most of these strange-looking "husks?" Much later, in 1979, I met another kind of cicada: Brood II of periodical cicadas--one of the amazing populations of insects that have a 17-year life span. In parts of Nyack, New York, a few miles from my home, I found these red-eyed insects everywhere--crawling over the ground and sidewalks, climbing trees and fence posts. Thousands of male cicadas filled the late June days with their loud buzzing. I took some photos, but the great spectacle was soon over. Sadly, I added the number 17 to 1979 and vowed to be ready for the next generation, in 1996. That year I visited Nyack many times. I wanted to get a new colony started near my home, and followed the advice of an entomologist. She suggested that I collect twigs where female cicadas had laid their eggs. With hand clippers I pruned a few trees of these twigs, then scattered them in a protected forest near my home. As I write these words, nymphs that hatched in 1996 are underground in those woods, well-along in their 17-year lives. Seventeen added to 1996 equals 2013. That year, I hope to see if my efforts to transplant cicadas succeeded. Most important, I simply hope to once again celebrate the amazing lives of seventeen-year cicadas. NOTE: The book explains in detail that cicadas are NOT locusts. Many people make that mistake. Locusts are grasshoppers, and can be very destructive to food crops. Cicadas are part of a very different group of insects, and are harmless. Remember, CICADAS ARE NOT LOCUSTS! |
