Brood X - The Cycle of Nature

They’ve been buried — alive — for 17 years. And now, Brood X, one of the world’s largest swarms of giant fly-like bugs called cicadas, is ready to rise. As our ground starts to warm, they've stopped gnawing on tree roots and have started their journey to the surface by the hundreds of billions. 

~Todd, at the moment is totally oblivious as to what's underground~

After tunneling their way out of the ground near tree trunks, they’ll crawl up trees, or things they mistake for trees, and shed a thin shell from which they emerge as technicolor animals with big orange eyes and wings.

~A Brood X Cicada from 2004~

Experts have been telling us for months that here in Virginia “We are at the epicenter of an event that happens nowhere else on the planet except here in the Eastern United States.” Those same experts are also telling us that it's going to be pretty remarkable, come the latter half of May. The densities of the cicadas in some places is going to be nothing short of phenomenal, about 1.5 million per acre. 

~We have a lot of space for cicadas!~

In our corner of Virginia, we are already starting to see them emerge, as 100's of holes are starting to appear around some of our trees. 

~Cicada holes are starting to appear around our trees~

We were here in Virginia in 2004, the last time "Brood X" made their appearance, but we were living in a relatively new subdivision and only heard them. However, where we live now the ground and the area has been pretty much undisturbed, the trees are mature, so it's anyone's guess as to how many we'll see. I may feel differently once Brood X actually appears, but at the moment, I cannot wait to see them -- After 17 years, it really is the cycle of nature at its best!

~Me, showing Todd a cicada tunnel~