Can
you identify what's in this photo?
Each Wednesday morning
on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page
the Lutherlyn Environmental
Education Program posts a photo.
Readers
have all morning and afternoon
to
make their best guess about what the photo is.
Around
6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.
Each
week's What is it Wednesday post
will
also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog,
after it is posted on Facebook,
sometimes
with additional bonus information.
In
addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday
on the
Nature of Lutherlyn blog,
we
will be reposting old editions,
creating
a What is it Wednesday archive.
This
photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on
May 15, 2019.
And
the answer is....
This is the skin of a cicada nymph. Annual (every-year)
cicadas are common in late summer, around August and September. The nymphs
develop underground for 2-5 years, then emerge and climb up a tree, plant, or
other structure. The adult emerges from the nymph skin, leaving this “shell”
behind. Annual cicada are also sometimes also called “Dog Day Cicadas” because they emerge in the “dog days” of late summer.
adult annual cicada
The familiar sounds are made by the adult males to attract a mate. The sounds are produced by vibrating
drum-like plates on their abdomens called tymbals. Their mostly-hollow abdomens
magnifies the sound, which can be quite overwhelming during a large emergence!
Periodic cicadas are famous for remaining underground for 13
or 17 years, then emerging in large numbers. Different “broods” emerge in
different years in different regions. When so many cicadas emerge all at once,
there are way more than predators can eat, ensuring that many cicadas will
survive to reproduce.
17 year cicada
photo from Wikimedia Commons, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
In 2019, brood VIII of 17 year cicadas will be emerging in
parts of western Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia! They emerge when the
soil is 64 degrees F – usually mid-May to early June. Keep an eye (and ear) out
for these amazing creatures! They are the longest-living insects on earth.
They
aren’t harmful, and spraying them with pesticides provides very little benefit
to people, but can harm the insects, the animals that eat them, and the
ecosystems they are a part of.
Let us know if you hear or see them in your
area!
Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out
and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!
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