Funny how you don’t think of them until you hear them the first time of the year. Actually, I heard them for the first time yesterday (Friday)…
The Arizona Cicadas are loud… but not like many of their cousins found elsewhere in the States. These normally come out about 2 weeks before the monsoon starts while many of the other Cicadas’s are gone before this time of year.
They are a bit late this year which coincides with the slightly late Monsoon… means hotter hot, but dry…
Lets see two weeks makes it around the 22nd… I think it might actually start up the mid-to end of this coming weekend though…
It will be a very hot Sun (111), Mon (112) Tues (117) though…
I hear they are good to eat… but I doubt I will convince the family to try them… :onfire:
You’d have great difficulty convincing me too. You could always try one yourself to see what they taste like Let us know what they’re like though…maybe you could start an export business to those parts of the world who only have little crickets to eat. We’ll set up franchises for you…AFC…Arizona Fried Cicada :lol:
Yes… they are pretty ugly… Normally, you don’t see them, you just hear them… and then you find their shells stuck on trees all over the place…
From a Cicadas FAQ:
What do they taste like?
Periodical cicadas are best eaten when they are still white (teneral), and they taste like cold canned asparagus. Like all insects, cicadas have a good balance of vitamins, are low in fat, and the females are especially high in protein. They are also Atkins friendly!
It should be still a happening, or are they the annual type (just went to a website and learned there periodic species: 13 or 17 year, and annual species … always thought there was only one species with a cycle of 20 years)?
The species of cicada found in Arizona finish their life cycles in two or three years. There is one species found east of the Mississippi, however, called the 17-year cicada or periodical cicada. The immatures of this species stay underground, feeding away on tree roots, for 17 years! Then, using some clue that is not yet well understood, all the adults come out at the same time to mate and lay eggs for the next generation.
From what I also read on another website, the Arizona cicadas come out every June (around Father’s Day). I’m sure Kevin would know a lot more information about them.
The monsoon typically starts the first or second week of July, so FathersDay would be a common time… however, somehow they are smart and know when the monsoon will start. This year, it is a bit late.
As a result, they didn’t start to show until last Friday and looking at the up coming weather patterns, they look like they knew it was about to start.
If they are wrong, they end up killing most of the their young because they need moist dirt to burrow into and right now it is hard and dry.
As for life cycles, I know that back east, they have long year return rates and when they come out it is quite a show. Around here, they are every year, but it could be different cycles of them that just happen to come out each year rather then the same group.
Let us know what they’re like though…maybe you could start an export business to those parts of the world who only have little crickets to eat. We’ll set up franchises for you…AFC…Arizona Fried Cicada :lol:
