After nearly two decades snuggled beneath the ground they are getting ready to fly. Brood X 2021 are on the way.
This where it all starts. Deep in the roots of their tree nests they sit and wait to fly from the ground and take over. The first recorded encounter with the Brood X was in 1715 at a Swedish church where the pastor wrote about the event in his journal. His words painted a very terrifying picture, but he was not the only who saw the mysterious bugs.
Some even say that even Benjamin Franklin had spoke about their arrival in Pennsylvania, and how the large numbers of the cicadas emergence from the ground in May of 1715 and again in May of 1732. They continued to appear in swarms arriving randomly every few years. The timing was almost like clockwork. They have a set time of 17 years come on back from up under the ground lik zombies. Now is the time so hole on tight.
There are twenty different kinds of Cicadas all over the world who have been eating tree sap and growing strong. Ready to set out to literally bug the world. After a shower of warm rain and the right soil temperature it helps them emerge from the only roots they have ever known. A whole graduating class at once. The swarms consist of thousands all at once in a tornado of all the no thank you sir, not today, not for me ever. There is not a fly swatter large enough to even stand a chance in that show down. So here we go a sick event that comes a few times in your life.
Ladies and gentlemen I give you the Brood X class of 2021. These kids are basically on spring break and they understand what the buddy system is to the extreme. They have picked the states they are headed for from mid May – June. We have a 1 in 50 chance of being apart of the hunger games. May the odds be forever in our favor. Even as babies they are not even kind of cute. Wow he looks just like you… eeek. I meant so cute. No I don’t want to hold him.
Now what states have they picked you ask? Don’t worry Wyoming did not make the list! One more reason we can and are proud to live in the Big Horn Basin. We are safe from them and will never by any means ever have to at see, touch, or run from them. Unless you fly fish then they make for a great replicate for dry flies. So they are good for something besides nightmares.
This is the Cowboy state! Our state bug is the Callophrys sheridanii. The name alone should scare all of other insects six to eight legs down. Callophrys sheridanii. Better known as the Sheridan’s green hairstreak butterfly! See luckily the insects we have worry about all made the movie A Bug’s Life. Lady Bugs, ants, grasshoppers, rollie pollies, caterpillars, the worst of the bunch the butterflies. Welcome to Wyoming where most of our insects don’t scare the underpants off you.
So that leaves the 49 other states that could be infested. Newsweek has the layout of where they are headed here: https://www.newsweek.com/brood-10-cicadas-map-u-s-states-insects-2021-1564207
At least those who get infested can look at the bright side of things… it won’t happen for another 17 years. So that is a plus I guess!
