By RORY TINGLE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
- Extraordinary photos taken Sunday show bugs shedding outer shell that surrounds them during hibernation
- Bodies will soon harden and darken to resemble familiar appearance before they fly off to look for a mate
- There are 15 major ‘broods’ of cicadas in different geographic areas, with life cycles of either 13 or 17 years
Brood X cicadas have been pictured shedding their exoskeletons to emerge in full red-eyed, black-winged glory after finally ending their 17-year hibernation.
The colony’s re-emergence has been delayed by cooler the normal weather, because the noisy insects will only come above ground when the soil is a consistent 64 degrees Fahrenheit.
Extraordinary photos taken Sunday show bugs in Washington, DC and Alexandria, Virginia abandoning the protective shell that surrounds them during hibernation. The cicadas’ bodies will soon harden and darken to resemble their familiar appearance before they fly off to look for a mate – a process which will see them make a noise approaching 100 decibels – or as loud as a jet at take-off.
Click the link below to read the rest of this story.
Click here to get more news from the Bulldog
On the go, but don’t want to miss any Bulldog news? Go to the App Store and download apps for Bulldog Reports and The Bulldog Show to your Apple and Android mobile devices. It’s free!
