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How Cicadas Work · Stuff You Should Know

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Welcome to stuff you should know front House stuff Works
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: dot com. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: There's Charles w Chuck Bryant, and I put the two
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: of us together. But it's in a room with a
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: two dollar I kea lamp and three dollar I key
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: at table and a thousand dollars with the microphones. Yes
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: that's what matters. And Jerry, and you've got yourself stuff
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: you should have and a million dollars worth the Jerry. Yeah,
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: she's just like one day. That's right. You got a
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: good intro for this, No do you no? Just talkxicatas.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: This is what I was thinking. Um, I guess if
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: you'd like me to give an intro, it would be
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: something like, Chuck, have you ever experienced summer? I have
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: in the South? Summer in the South? For me, Cicada's
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: I associate cicada sicot h either one. You know what
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: they say, Josh, what you say Cicada? I say Cicada.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: I say Cicada. Yeah it is Cicada. Actually, I have
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: a very quick funny story. I have a friend named
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: Andrew who had a friend who tried out as a
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: singer for some Broadway show or something, and she did
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: that song, but she did not had never heard the song,
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: I think, and she sang, you say potato, I say potato,
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: and didn't know. And that was how she auditioned, like
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: she just had read it, she guess. So she got
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: it wrong or read it or something, and it was,
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: you know, potato, potato, tomato, tomato. And I got a
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: good laugh out of the people. That's a good story, Yeah,
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: I thought so. I've always that's a good one. Andrews listening,
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: He probably not. Hello, Hey, how's it going? Alright? So
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: moving on? Sorry cicadas, Yes, cicada. I think we should
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: agree to say cicadas. Well, it is cicada. I was
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: just cooving, okay. Um, And if you're talking about cicada
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: you have probably a certain type of mind. But there
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: are actually, there are a number of species I've seen
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: anywhere between two depending on who you ask. There you go,
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: um and uh, the one though that that I think
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: everybody thinks of when they think cicada, especially when they
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: think cicada infestation. As um, the magic acada is the
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: species name. Yeah, it's uh, their periodical cicadas. And that's
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: what we're going to be concentrating on, right, And those
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: are the ones that are all over the news. If
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: you're on the Eastern seaboard right now, you've been hearing
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: them or hearing about them. Cicada invasion, Cicada invasion. And
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: in fact, if you go to uh, magic Cicada, that's
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: all I say it. I like magic Acada dot org.
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: There's a there's a map there that shows you where
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: they are currently hatching. Yeah, they have a lot of
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: great resources on that site. Yeah. People get really excited
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: because it's such a weird, freaky unique thing. Yeah, it is.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: That happens every or well that's not true. It happens,
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: you know, more frequently. But each brood we'll hatch every
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: seventeen or thirteen years, right, it happens every year, depending
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: on the type of brood. Exactly, Um this year. Yes,
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: we're in brood too. And there are two two types
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: of um broods, or two types of periodic broods. And
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: by the way, periodic broods, the ones that emerge after
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: thirteen years or seventeen years, are native and indigenous only
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: to North America. Oh yeah, yeah, so it's like our
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: special thing. Yeah. So if you're talking about Cicada Invasion
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: two thus thirteen to a British person or gear and
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: be like, I don't know what you're talking about, but
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: um oh we should say, chuck, We're going to be
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: a part of this in our own way. Yeah, we're
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: gonna be on the TV for Science Channel Cicada Invasion
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: two thousand thirteen on Sunday. Right. Yeah, they're doing lots
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: of cool programming and they have gotten us to provide
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: some little bumpers and moments in between with a cool
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: professor that's going to be and he is, and with
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: propetor Mike. Yeah, my professor, Mike Route. He is the foremost,
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: um utmost and foremost steam expert on um cicadas and
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: he's Maryland terrapists that right, I believe. So alright, So yeah,
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: it's called Cicadas and Invaders two thousand thirteen. It's on Sunday,
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: Science Channel. It goes from eight to eleven PM, but
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: we're hosting the nine to eleven PM segment, which includes
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: the dramatic climax. Yeah. But so we're gonna be there
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: on Science Channel on that day, so go check it out.
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: So we know a lot about cicadas, and this is
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: why that's right. So um again you said, uh, magic cicada.
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: I like magic acada for that, but um, the seventeen
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: year brewed species is what's coming out along the eastern seaboard. Um.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: And they're going to be eventually black with orange veined
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: wings and red eyes. Yeah, generally they have red eyes, although, um,
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: you can occasionally spot a very rare blue eyed or
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: silver eyed. Um, but you cannot get money for those.
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: Did you hear about that rumor? In two thousand and four,
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: I think there was a rumor that Johns Hopkins was
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: paying money for blue eyed cicadas if you could find them,
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: and they were like, no, no, stop bringing those. It's
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: neat and it's rare, but we're not offering money up
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: for this, but thank you. We'll take them for free,
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: those suckers. But generally they're a little Steve A. Simon
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: looking red eye things, you know. And and we should
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: also say, here's what the big deal is. This is
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: why it's called like invaders in the invasion in Cicada
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: apple apocalypse. I just made that one up two thousand
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: thirteen from people who don't live here. Um, this happens
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: with the brood like every seventeen years, and broods are
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: incredibly well synchronized, and there are billions of these things,
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: and because they're synchronized, billions of cicadas are going to
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: all emerge from the ground pretty much at once in
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: an air. Yeah. In fact, Professor Ralph himself was quoted
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: in a thing I read today said, Um, there's a boatload.
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: There could be a billion per square mile, dude, right,
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: not a billion overall, like a billion in your like
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: you and your neighbors backyards. Yeah, it's crazy. Yeah, I
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: think it's more like one and a half million per
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: acre at its peak. So you and three other neighbors
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: you got one and a half million. So rap was wrong. No,
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: he said a square mile. Okay, square mom, Yeah, no
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: he's not. I don't think he's wrong about anything that
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: has the cads. Um. Yeah, we haven't met him yet.
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: We're leaving in a couple of days. Actually, in the
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: real time, we have high hopes. Yeah, of course, So
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: I guess you want to talk about what these guys
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: look like. Guys and gals look like alright, aside from
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: the orange veins, that's right. Um, they are in the
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: order him up tera, which anything has piercing and sucking
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: mouthparts is in that order, right, And um, you got
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: a wingspan between two and a half centimeters to fifteen
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: And have you seen the big ones, man, they're huge,
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: like palm in your hand. Big. Yeah. The ones in
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: the tropics are are up to like six inches long
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: their body, not their wingspan. That's crazy. Um, they are
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: bad flyers. I guess I'm gonna just guess here and
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: say because they're not around long, they're not a lot
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: of experience. They're probably kind of heavy, yea, you know,
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: they're not very aerodynamic heavy for their wings. And um,
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: I think you just kicked up point one of what
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: makes cicada's the affable, lovable member of the insect goose
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: balls that they are. They have two sets of wings
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: one two pairs of wings, and they can't fly very well.
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: So that's no, that's one. Yeah, they have the outer
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: wings are glassy and transparent, and they're longer and they
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: covered the shorter opaque wings, and um, they look formidable
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: when you look at the wings are all vany and
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: like they look sturdy. Yeah they're not. They're not. They're
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: not for the icadus. Here's the other funny thing. They
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: have three pairs of legs, but they're not good jumpers
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: even though they try to. Yeah, all their legs are
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: about the same length, so they're kind of clumsy. They
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: can't fly very well. They can't jump very well, that's
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: the point to. So they have those big goofy red eyes,
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: and then they have three compound eyes and three tiny
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: little eyes and uh in between on the top of
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: their head called ossily and they of course watch for
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: the birds and other predators that lurk above. Right, So
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: they have the really great peripheral vision from the compound
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: eyes on the side and then great I guess airborne
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: vision worms eye vision, that's right. And a couple of
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: little bristle like antenna behind the little um asila assily eyes.
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: I guess that would be repetitive to say or redundant
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: say assily eyes, because that's what they are, but you
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. Then they have those mouthparts that
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: we mentioned, and they are in a sheath, a beak
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: like sheath called labium, which they just tuck there between
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: their legs unless they need to use it, which is
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: what they do in there. They eat that um that
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: sheath flabium holds four little um stickers called stylet's their
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: their needle like, and they jam it into the plant
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: or like the leaf and they just suck it up
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: like a straw. That and reproduction is that's the point
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: of the cicada's life. Yeah, well that's what they did.
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: Reproduction in those really the point, you know what I'm saying.
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: They like to they like to do it. They're like
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: recipute and uh boy, people can be like that's a
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: random thing to say. Weeks later you'll understand. So they're
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: famous though for uh, not only for their weird seventeen
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: year or thirteen year emergence, but they're loud, loud singing,
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: and before we go on to describe it, we might
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: as well just hear it, don't you think so? A
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: brief little audio bit here from Jerry. This is the
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: Kada singing. Jerry's gonna make a cicada call. That was
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: really good, Jerry, Uh and really good, Mr Cicada. And
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: I say mr. Because it's only the men that are singing.
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: The males. Why do they sing? Well, two reasons, to
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: attract females to mate and to scare off birds. Because
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: it is so freaking loud. It will scare off birds. So, um,
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: this it is extraordinarily loud. The cicada call the males
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: mating songs, especially when they get together. And I've seen, yeah,
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: I've seen that. Doctor Mike said that it was recorded
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: at like ninety four decibels, which is like a standing
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: next to a lawnmower. But basically, but if this is
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: this is a sound made by an insect, and it's everywhere.
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: It fills the air for someone who hasn't experienced to
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: like a chorus of male cicadas all singing together, it's everywhere.
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: It's really loud. And in fact, you said lawnmower. The
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: females can actually be attracted to lawnmars and weed eaters.
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: Is that right? Yeah, that's crazy. And just to give
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: you an idea, between eighty and ninety decibles is when
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: the threat of hearing loss begins. Um, and like you said,
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: lawn mowars, and about one twenty as a rock concert,
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: about one forty as a jet engine. And these things
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: are a little tiny insects. But remember that. And again
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: Dr Mike said, uh, ninety four was what he'd seen recorded.
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: But I have also read up to a hundred and
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: twenty decibles. Yeah, that's really really loud. Yeah, And apparently
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: you can get so high that humans can't hear them.
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: But if your dog is going berserker, you're in like
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: North Carolina or Maryland or something, that might be why.
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: And yeah, the smaller species make higher pitched ones. I guess,
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: So how are they doing this? Oh? Well, um, they
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: have Actually a lot of people think that it's a chirp,
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: maybe like a cricket rubs its legs together. You would
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: be wrong. We should say that cicadas are closer to
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: aphids than crickets, right, um. And they're also not using
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: any vocal cords because they lack those. What they do
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: have are these little membranes on the sides of their abdomens.
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: And these membranes are they're called timbles, and they're connected
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: to um well, I guess they're inside by a little muscle, right,
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: And when the muscle contracts, the timble bends increased forms
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: in it, and then when the muscle relaxes, the timble
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: goes back to taught again and that makes a clicking sound.
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: And if you do that a bunch of times, what
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: you have is the cicada song. Yeah, and they don't
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: know why it's so loud or how it's so loud. Um,
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: I did read something. I'm not sure if it's verified
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: that there are like, uh pockets in the abdomen that
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: make it louder or something. But still such a small insect.
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: I mean, it's like I said, it can be big,
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: but that's still an insect, right. And this sound, like
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: you said, it messes with birds. Um. It can scare
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: them off, but it can also even the ones that
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: aren't scared off. It prevents birds from hunting and packs
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: because they can't communicate with one another because it's so loud.
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: So it's also a defense mechanism. It's a mating call,
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: and apparently certain species make a certain sound to prevent
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: I guess interspecial mixing. Well, they want to be with
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: their own kind, you know, right, because they don't have
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: too many shots at this And they're doing all this
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: um up in the trees, right. Yeah. And it's usually
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: during the heat of the day when the when this
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: music is going on. You say music, I say chainsaw. Uh.
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: Oh does it bother you? I think it's so soothing.
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: Have you ever been among the invasion? Yeah? It it
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: to me it's not soothing because it's so loud and
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: so continuous that it's sort of like drives me mad.
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: Actually it's neat though. It's cool because you know it's
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: gonna end and it crests and it falls, and it
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: crests and it falls, you know, so like you know
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: it's gonna I just think it's really neat. It is neat. Um.
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: So it is so loud though. They even have a
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: protection protective measure for themselves. Um. Males and females have
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: these mirror like membranes, a pair of them called timpana,
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: and they're sort of like their ears, and basically there's
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: a short tendon connected and when they're shouting out with
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: their call, they will retract the tendon and it basically
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: just sort of creases and closes their ears so they
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: don't have to hear. Right, it's like shuts it. Yeah,
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: it's like a little they're like one of the mechanical function.
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: Yeah exactly. Um, alright, so let's talk about the mating
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: and the you know, the egging and the ovipositive thing.
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: So this is this is like pretty much the whole
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: reason a cicada comes to life. This is why they
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: invade is to mate and reproduce. Right. So, once the
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: males have attracted some females over like, they'll they search
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: for one another. They do some terrible jumping and some
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: bad flying and hey mama, they'll finally come up upon
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: one another and be like, I like you, I like you,
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: And then they go off. And after they mate, the
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: female um carves some notches into the stoma of plants
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: and yeah, and then uses her ovipositor, which is an
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: egg laying appendage, and um deposits up to six eggs
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: in one little session. And then um the eggs start
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: to hatch and they actually fall down out of the
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: tree as larva, these little nymphs. Yeah, okay, so their
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: nymphs then and they so they go through the larval
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: stage in the tree and then fall down out as nymphs.
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: And then they burrow. Yeah, they immediately root underground as
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: a protective measure, and then they start growing and repeatedly
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: shutting their skin over seventeen years seventeen years, So think
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: about this. A the average cicada lives seven in teen years.
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: If it's a periodic seventeen years cicada, it's average lifespan
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: is seventeen years underground and then two months above ground
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: and then they die, Yeah, like four to six weeks generally,
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: So like they spend almost all their life as young
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: immature cicadas getting ready to be adults for two months
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: or less so they can reproduce ones and then nuts.
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: It is nuts. It's pretty neat. Though. If you don't
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: have cicadas and you're like, what's going on, it means
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: you probably don't have a lot of deciduous trees where
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: you are. Yeah, they like fruit trees to yeah. Um,
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: so don't get bummed out. Dis go visit your neighbor
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: if they have some you've gotten yoaks uh. And the
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: question why are they under there for so long? There
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: are a bunch of theories. I can't wait to talk
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: to the professor Mike though in a couple of days.
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: But the leading theory I've heard is that it's like
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: in evolutionary rhythm that they developed to not get eaten
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: avoid predators. Now, that is why there are billions of
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: these things in a square mile or two, and it's
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: because they have relatively few predators underground. There's a type
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: of fungus that that can attack them, and it can
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: be transferred from generation to generation. There are beetle larva
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: that will eat them, but for the most part they're
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: out of the grasp of like their their main predators,
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: like birds or whatever. So they do manage to survive,
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: but then so many of them come up and die
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: like very quickly that actually something called predators satiation comes about,
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: which means that like the birds just fly off because
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: they're so full they can't eat anymore. And it still
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: doesn't significantly impact the number of cicadas. Yeah, there's still
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: enough afterward to mate and keep the species alive. And yeah,
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: like you're tired of eating us yet, I'm so full
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: of cicadas, Like, fine, now we'll mate. Yeah, let's get
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: it on. The birds are full, apparently a lot of
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: more born cripple, yeah, especially thanks to long chemicals. Yeah,
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: and uh, have you ever there's a time lapse on
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: YouTube of one coming out. It's uh exoskeleton. It's pretty
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: pretty awesome. So we should say when they when they
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: emerge from their burrows on their chimneys, little mud chimneys. Right,
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: they're adults, but they're called tenoral adults. They're not quite
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: to the adult stage yet. What happens is they have
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: to mold. They're exoskeleton, which you'll find like attached to
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: a tree or something like that. Yeah, which are you know,
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: it's cool and crazy. Oh, it's super cool. Yeah. And
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: then once they mold, then that's the last time they're
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: going to Then they're full fledged adults. And then they
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: have like four to six weeks. Yeah maybe, like that's
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: if you successfully make it through bird season and get
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: the mate. Like a lot of these guys die, like
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: you know, within days or weeks. And they dig themselves
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: out too, with little little shovels on their it's almost
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: like shovels on their legs and they just dig up
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: and they're like, hey, we're here, yep, look out for
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: that birdom already dead or oh shoot, I'm crippled or man,
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: I can't fly seventeen years and I can't fly and
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: here comes a bird. And apparently one of the one
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: of the things that will kill a cicada is incomplete molting,
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: Like they'll just get stuck and die. That's gonna be
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: a bad way to go, Yeah, I guess. I mean,
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: since there's billions of them, there's all manner of like
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: awful things and most of them, so we should say
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: cicadas are known for just huge infestations, invasions, whatever you
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: want to call it, on a thirteen year seventeen year cycle.
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: And there's so many of them all at once because
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: there's so many of them a but also because they're
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: like in synchronicity. And they think the reason why they
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: all emerge usually at night, all at once is because
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: they're all following the same que and they're pretty sure
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: it has to do with ground temperature. Yeah, they think
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: that because evolutionary um rhythm, well they and I think
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: it's probably tied together like that rhythm is based on
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: the temperature changes, and then there would have to be
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: some sort of rhythm because the temperature is gonna hit.
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: I think when the temperature averages starts to every sixty
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: four degrees fahrenheight in the ground, that's when you're gonna
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: start to see cicada's emerging. But that's gonna happen seventeen
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: times or sixteen times before that seventeenth year, so there
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: does have to be some other pattern that they're following
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: so they don't emerge sooner, right, But it's just one dude.
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: They were at the front. This's like you know, Ralph
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: the old man. Alright, guys, it's been seventeen years. Let's
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: do it. Let's do this thing. Uh and you mentioned
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: the temperature change, but that that makes sense because uh,
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: they they hatch you know, from a southerly south southerly
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: to northernly northerly or northernly. Uh southerly northerly. Yeah, let's
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: hears up the coast. Okay, Yeah, like you'll see him
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: in Georgia first, and then North Carolina and then Virginia
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: and then d C and then all the way up
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: the Hudson Valley of New York apparently. So if you
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: were in Philadelphia or DC or New York City even
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: you might see some cicadas this year. Yeah, there's a
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: mathematical formula for predicting wind. You'll see cicadas in your
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: neck of the woods. So you go to weather underground
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: dot com and you find out you go on their
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: almanac and look at April and you figure out what
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: the average April temperature was in Celsius right back down.
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: And then here's the mathematical formula E, which is the
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: emerging state in May. Number E equals parentheses nineteen point
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: six five minus t, which is that average April temperature
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: and celsus divided by zero point five one three six.
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: That number will give you the date that the cicadas
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: are going to emerge around your area. And apparently it's
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: tried and true. Or you can go to magic Magic
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: Cicada dot org and click on the map. If you're
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: not in a math and you like pictures, or if
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: you like both, do both. Yeah, that's true. Um, I
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: don't think I have anything else. I would definitely go
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: look up that time lapse on YouTube. It's pretty cool.
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: I've got more, all right, Well, you know how I
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: said that they're this kind of the stumbly bumbly lovable,
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: affable creatures of the insect world. So not only can
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: they not fly very well, they can't jump very well.
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: They genuinely lack defenses. Aside from their call, they can't
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: do anything well. They don't buy it or sting people,
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: even though they look scary. They don't carry disease. They
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: prey on trees, only their herbivores, if you can call
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: an insect that. But even if a tree um flags
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: is what it called it like, becomes weakened from too
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: many cicadas feeding on it trees still bounce back, so
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: they kill nothing while they're alive. Sure, you don't need
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: to be afraid of them. They look intimidating. But if
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: they land on you, like hold them in your hand. Well,
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: even still, even if you hold them in the hand,
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: a male will make a defensive buzzing. That's kind of scary,
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: and you can scary. It's all. It's all show, it's
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: all talked. They're not gonna buy you, they're not gonna
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: sting you. Um, they're really sweet little little boogers, and
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: I welcome them. That's yeah. If also you welcome them
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: into your belly or you want to. There's a lot
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: of cicada recipes out there. I have a bad feeling
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: we're gonna be asked to eat some of this stuff.
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: Is that right? It's possible. I guess everyone's gonna have
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: to tune in on Sunday, May twenty to find out.
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: I'm not as adventurous as you are when it comes
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: to eating things. Speaking a cookie, I would try it.
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: I don't think they do that. I think it's more
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: like you know, no, no, you mean made cicada cookies.
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: And she said tastes like cookie. Well, but I think
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: the traditional way is to like eat them like you
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: would crickets, like to put them in a pan with
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: some salt. I know. I saw some like serious in
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: depth recipes. Yeah, I mean, sure you could grind up
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: cicadas and put them in lasagna or your pizza or whatever.
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: I didn't see ground up. I saw blanched tenoral adults. Yeah,
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: so you want to get them before like there. Really
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: she said it was fine, but she didn't grind him up.
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: She just put like a whole cicada in the cookie.
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: I don't know how she made them like that. Maybe
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: broke them up. Interesting because I didn't get the impression
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: that it was like, yeah, she's just when she was
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: just kind of like, yeah, I mean, there's nothing really,
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: so I would imagine that they were broken up in
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: some way. I don't think, or maybe it's like the
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: eminem cookies. You just stick it in the top when
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: it's right. I saw those two, you know, Yeah, it's
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: just a little disgusting treat in the middle. So I
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: should probably wait for them to die of natural causes,
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: maybe an incomplete mold to grab some of those in
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: and bake them there you go, or kids grab grab
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: some exoskeletons because they look neat and they look just
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: like the like, you know, the shell of the cicada.
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: So but you know, bring one of those to school
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: and build on your friend. Yeah. And if you get
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: into this and you find it very thrilling, there's a
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: lot of citizens science projects around where um that has
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: to do with counting cicadas, measuring cicadas, UM, trying to
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: do cicada calls. I just made that last one up,
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: but you could do that and if you want him.
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: There's a culture surrounding this exact it's interesting to go
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: online and look it up. Uh. If you want to
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: know more about cicadas. First of all, you can watch
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: are special Cicators and Invaders two thousand thirteen on Science
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: Channel on Sunday. Cicators like you're British and Invaders UM
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: on Sunday from eight to eleven pm. And we're gonna
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: be on nine to olympm on Science Ye. Uh. And
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: since I just said that, it's time for message break, right,
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: that's right, and then listen to mail. Uh And now
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: it's time for listening. Yeah, I'm gonna call this uh
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: truth Serum in Columbia. Remember we did that show on
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: truth Storm. Yes, all right, this is from CALAROI zerbos
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: and listeners. Since two thousand eight is a great name,
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: didn't it. Yeah, guys, you recently aired a podcast on
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: the existence of a truth serum and mentioned the use
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: of scopelamine. You also referenced the Vice TV article in
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: which they claimed drug trapp or kers use it and
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: shout out device. By the way, Yeah, we're gonna be
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: doing some bloggings for them soon. Good programming. Um, well, guys,
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: I just want you to know I lived in Columbia
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: for twelve years, loved every minute of it, and I've
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: known several people who have been victims of scopelamine attacks. However,
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: it is not drug traffickers who use this, but rather
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: it's just fans of fieves and criminals. Drug traffickers actually
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: do not need to attack random people to pull income.
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: It's the petty thieves who do. Um all occurred in
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: the middle of the day in good neighborhoods of Bogata
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: by well dressed, middle aged attackers. It's most commonly dusted
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: onto a piece of paper, which is then handed to
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: the victim by the culprit under the guise of asking
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: for directions within ten and fifteen minutes. If you're out
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: wide awake, compliant and unaware, but unable to remember what
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: happened afterwards, you were also quite ill, and more often
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: than not you end up in the hospital with your
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: stomach plot. Usually your bank account and valuables are emptied
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: in your apartment. In one case, a friend of mine
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: had his Empire apartment emptied of everything. Oh my god,
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: and he was just sitting there the whole time. Basically,
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: I guess so, man. Anyway, it's pretty frightening and at
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: times lethal. Most Columbians therefore will not accept anything handed
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: them on the street and in clubs, well, no one
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: ever puts their drink down, if you know what I mean.
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: Thanks again with the excellent show. And that is again
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: Calorie Servos, And that is frightening. Yeah. I bet when
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: Columbians go to Vegas they're just like overwhelmed, you know,
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: like on every sta corner, guys are handing trying to
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: hand Oh yeah, yeah, I'll bet they freak out. Yeah, seriously, Uh,
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: tell me the name again, Calorie Zervos. Thank you very much,
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: Calorie Zervos. Calaroi and Calaroi Zervos k l e r
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: o I. That's not calorie like counting Candar Caloroi Zervos.
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: That has a great name. Uh. If you want to
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: let us know your name, you can tweet to us
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: at s y s K podcast. You can join us
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: on Facebook dot com slash stuff you Should Know, and
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: you can send us a good old fashioned email to
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: stuff Podcast at the Discovery dot com and then don't
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: forget join us our home on the web, Stuff you
• 28:04
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• 28:12
  Speaker 1: of other topics, visit how stuff works dot com. Hey,
• 28:22
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• 28:27
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