• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
A cicada rests on a rose in the Rodgers Forge suburb of Baltimore. (George P. Matysek Jr./CR Staff)

Going buggy with Brood X

June 1, 2021
By Greg Erlandson
Catholic News Service
Filed Under: Commentary, Environment, Feature, Guest Commentary

When I first learned of the imminent arrival of the 17-year cicadas, Brood X according to those who name such things, it brought to mind my years in the Midwest. There the whir that accompanied their annual appearance was comforting. It was nature’s Muzak, soothing background noise as summer drew to a close.

Brood X is to the normal summer cicada what King Kong is to Tarzan’s Cheeta: something else entirely.

First of all, they don’t wait until late summer. After their 17-year hibernation, they start making their appearance in spring when the ground warms and the last thing you are thinking about is a billion bugs taking over the yard.

The holes appear first. The soil is punctuated with neat circular holes from which the nymphs have crawled out after 17 years deep in the soil, feeding on tree roots and biding their time for reasons unknown to scientists. Nymph is the technical name for this stage in Brood X’s life, but they strike me more as zombie critters, crawling out of the earth and robotically heading for high ground.

It is there that they shed this exoskeleton that has been growing all those years far beneath our feet. Like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon, only grosser, the adult cicada emerges from the shell that has been covering them.

These husks are shed fairly quickly but left scattered in piles at the base of trees, or locked in a frozen position on the trunk itself. Affixed to the bark six or 10 or 15 feet up the trunk, the shell splits to allow the adult to emerge.

Upon emergence, the adult cicadas are suddenly mobile, now blessed with wings and no longer forced to crawl. They weave about in slightly drunken fashion high above the street, and then land on the sidewalk like it was the deck of a sea-tossed aircraft carrier, wobbling to a stop or simply flipping on their backs.

It is anyone’s guess if they are smart enough to get right-side up again. Which explains all the bodies of the grown cicadas that fill the lawns and sidewalks. Many more are snacks for the rest of nature — birds, squirrels, even house pets.  

But if billions make it to earth’s surface as nymphs, then many hundreds of millions make it into the trees, which begin to resemble Daytona Beach during spring break. The males make a throbbing noise to attract mates, kind of like teenagers with a boom box. This noise sounds fairly aggressive when heard by itself, but in a chorus of millions, it sounds a bit like Mother Nature’s got a case of tinnitus, a constant buzz that continues from dawn till dusk.

Once procreation has taken place, many, many larvae are birthed. They will, like salmon, make their way back from whence their parents came, heading down into the dark loam for another 17 years and a long suck on tree roots.

I am not enamored of this insect tide, but that they exist is in its own way marvelous. They are a mysterious part of the great ecosystem, which God has given us to take care of. I do not always understand his ways, but perhaps the Book of Sirach (42:22-25) explains it best:

“How beautiful are all his works!/ … Everything lives and abides forever;/ And to meet each need, each creature is preserved./ All of them differ, one from another,/ Yet none of them has he made in vain,/ For each in turn, as it comes, is good;/ Can one ever see enough of their splendor?”

To which I must answer, for this season, yes.


Also see

Pope urges Madagascar’s bishops to protect creation as prophetic mission

Delaware garden of plenty provides food to needy, thanks to Vincentians, parishes

God’s dazzling creation

Pope visits papal villa, former summer residence in Castel Gandolfo

Pope pledges prayers for China, marks Laudato Si’ anniversary

U.S. bishops urge young people to ‘lead the way’ on climate crisis

Copyright © 2021 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

Print Print

Primary Sidebar

Greg Erlandson

View all posts from this author

| Recent Commentary |

A loaf of sliced bread

We are part of the miracle

Question Corner: Do I need to attend my territorial parish?

The truth about transitions

A cry for unity

‘Public’ does not equal ‘state’ or ‘government’

| Recent Local News |

Juneteenth

Juneteenth seen as day to reflect on freedom, ending racism and Black Catholics’ contributions

Deacon O’Donnell’s ‘normal’ faith life led to priestly vocation

St. Joseph Church in Fullerton

Fullerton church begins renovations

Deacon Alex Mwebaze is happy to call Maryland home

Knights of Columbus announces June 19 novena for intention of Pope Leo

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Trump orders US attack on Iran nuclear sites, as Pope Leo, bishops plead for peace
  • We are part of the miracle
  • Visiting Upstate New York’s National Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs
  • Washington Roundup: Trump weighs options in Israel-Iran conflict, CLINIC condemns expanded ICE raids
  • Malta in the Jubilee Year: A quieter pilgrimage of hope
  • Finance experts launch report at Vatican on foreign debt relief
  • Hundreds of thousands march in Poland’s Corpus Christi processions
  • Traditionalist Catholics see evangelization potential of Latin Mass
  • Juneteenth seen as day to reflect on freedom, ending racism and Black Catholics’ contributions

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED