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Cicada Recipes
To some people, cicadas are not just noisy insects -- they're food. The fact that cicadas only show up every few years makes them a rare delicacy. Check out Cicada-licious: Cooking and Enjoying Periodical Cicadas (PDF) for some recipes.

The last to emerge, Brood X, was seen in the spring of 2004 in the eastern United States, from Georgia through Tennessee and further west into isolated pockets of Missouri, north along the Ohio Valley and into Michigan, and east into New Jersey and New York.

Brood XIII will occur in the upper Midwest (including Chicago) in late May through June of 2007. (See Museum of Biological Diversity: 17-year Cicada: Brood XIII Distribution to check out a map of the projected area.) There will be hundreds of cicadas per infested acre. So if you are in these areas, you won't miss them.

Do They Bite?
Even though cicadas may land on you or bump into you, you don't have to worry about getting bitten. Cicadas are harmless. They may cause some slowing of the growth of trees from the amount of sap the cicadas consume, but they won't cause permanent damage. Cicadas don't bite or sting in any way. The worst they will do is annoy you with their incessant singing.

Limited Run
The life span of an adult cicada is short. As mysteriously as they arrive, they will disappear. Most will be eaten by birds and other predators. Even the nymphs are not safe below the ground, as they are often preyed upon by beetle larvae and other ground-dwelling parasites.

If you live to be 75 years old, you will only have about four opportunities in your life to hear the song of the Brood XIII cicadas. If you live in an infested area, you won't be able to miss it. But if you don't, it might be worth your time to go out of your way to hear one of nature's most powerful and elusive performers.

For more information on cicadas and related topics, check out the links on the next page.