The cicadas live most of the time under the roots of trees, but once every 17 years they emerge underground and become adult cicadas for a few weeks. So a very dramatic and noisy courtship process begins, at the end of which we will have to wait another 17 years until we witness this amazing phenomenon again
By Dr. Neta Lipman, Angle - Science and Environment News Agency.
This article was originally published on May 21
It was not easy for me to be this week in the bursting American spring, in a city that is slowly but surely waking up from almost a year and a half of paralysis imposed on it by the corona virus, while in Israel everyone is safe, kept at a safe distance from a protected space. Being here and "interpreting" the websites from Israel every few minutes and taking care of all the family and friends is a difficult situation, the body is here but the heart is there.
While in Israel they are waiting for quiet, on the east coast of the United States they are waiting for a very noisy natural phenomenon: the awakening of theThe cyclic cicada", an event that only happens once every 17 years. Many scientists, researchers and nature lovers They have been waiting impatiently for their arrival for the past few weeks And here, this week the first cicadas have already been observed as they climb the trees with determination.
Scientists predict that within a few days, and as the ground warms, trillions of cicadas are expected to emerge from the ground in15 different states in the United States, from Indiana through Georgia and New York, from Tennessee to North Carolina.
Oath of the Predator
The cicadas live most of the time as nymphs under the roots of trees, but once every 17 years, when the ground warms with the arrival of spring, they emerge underground and become adult cicadas for a few weeks. The males attract the females to them with a sharp and loud chirp and at the end of this very dramatic and noisy courtship process, the fertilized females will lay their eggs on trunks and roots of trees. And we will have to wait another 17 years until we witness this amazing phenomenon again.
This is an impressive survival defense mechanism. In nature as in nature, everything has a purpose. If at a given moment millions of individuals emerge at once, it will be difficult for potential predators to eliminate them all. That is, most cicadas will be able to mate and lay eggs and ensure the continued survival of their species. "Saturation of the predator" if you want to use a slightly more scientific term for the phenomenon.
It is a piece of natural phenomenon, but the experience is not for everyone. It can be quite stressful if you don't like bugs when you are surrounded by huge amounts of winged insects with red eyes. Although the cicadas do not harm humans and do not sting, their mass emergence creates a spectacle that is like something taken from a horror movie. Luckily the scientists anticipate the phenomenon in advance and prepare the public.
In fact, the scientists and researchers of the cicadas prepared for the arrival of the cicadas with a particularly impressive citizen science project, which is based on a special application for monitoring cicadas:Cicada Safari". The public is called to help science and upload photos of the cicadas found, including their exact location. In this way, citizens can help scientists and researchers gather as much information as possible about this unusual and unique phenomenon at a given moment.
to follow jellyfish
A few years ago at the Israeli Association for Ecology and Environmental Sciences we established a similar citizen science project:Jellyfish in the people” who monitors jellyfish on Israel's beaches, this is because not enough was known about the phenomenon of jellyfish swarms. Specialist scientists have developed an application that allows you to easily record jellyfish, in the sea or on the beach, alive or dead. This information helps the researchers uncover another aspect of the phenomenon of the swarms of jellyfish and of course with the help of your knowledge it will be possible to know where there is a "jellyfish load" on the beach and where it is more sympathetic to bathe.
This week is expected to be hot weather and after a few days of rain, the ideal conditions will be created for them to wake up from the 17-year-old simulated coma. Although the massive noise of courtship has not yet begun, the report maps are starting to become active with sightings of the first pioneer cicadas emerging and climbing the trees. We are excited to be a part of this phenomenon and have already installed the application that will allow us to take part in its scientific research. However, old friends in the area (who lived here in 2004) especially remember the relief, not to mention the silence, that takes over the area when this mass courtship campaign comes to an end.
So all that remains is to hope that this silence will also be in Israel and the noise of alarms and explosions will give way to the silence of late spring and early summer. After a year and a half of Corona and restrictions and working from home there is nothing like going to the beach and relaxing, and if you come across a jellyfish then of course also report it.
More of the topic in Hayadan:
And as you can see we also reported in the previous cycle
