2007: Year of the Cicadas

In 2007, Cicadas swept into the Chicagoland Area. I was in the fourth grade, and the sound was beautiful. The thousands of little bugs making that one simultaneous, harmonious sound, intrigued me. I wondered why it made that sound, there is a simple answer. Their exoskeleton is modified with these tymbals, that when the cicada vibrates, the tymbals produce a sound, and the male cicada's shell is hollow so it amplifies the sound, tenfold. That Spring of 2007 was the first time I had ever heard of a cicada. The first one I saw scared me senseless, and I asked my mom what it was, she said "a cicada". My friends at school would constantly listen to the sound of them in wonder, we had many conversations about what the sound could be. Now I have found out and a hidden question in the back of my mind has come full circle, as the 17 year cicadas plan to invade the east coast.

Sound of the Cicada