The Lifespan of the Cicada [VIDEO]

I came in to work this afternoon, and there were hundreds if not thousands (or at least 100) of dead Cicada's at the back door. Did you know just what the Cicada goes thru in it's lifetime? Check this out...

The Cicada lives underground alone for 17 years before coming to the surface. Once they are above ground they climb to find a safe perch and begin the final few weeks of their 17 year lives.

They leave there shells and spread their wings. They will usually wait still for a few days to recover from the transformation as their new shells harden. Soon after that the males will start calling the females with that familiar buzz that most people from these parts know very well. Cicada's all buzzing together truly is one of the loudest sounds in nature. That's when the mating frenzy begins.

The pregnant females will deposit their fertilized eggs into tree branches by the hundreds, and with that, their lives are pretty much complete and they start dying off. The period between the first Cicada appearing and the last dying is less than six weeks. Then you see dead shells and husks everywhere.

But up in the trees, billions of eggs are waiting to hatch. When they do hatch, instinct leads the rice grain sized nymphs to the ground for shelter. There they burrow in deep, not to be seen again for another 17 years... and repeat. Check out this very interesting video...