Brood XIII: We Can't Believe We're Still Talking About Them Either

Yes, we know, we too may scratch our eyes out if we hear one more thing about the damn cicadas. But, we're here to inform, so here we go.

As we (and everyone else) have mentioned before: The cicadas are coming! But, not as predicted. The original predicted date for the cicada Billion Bug Breakout was May 22, and if you have a calendar, you know that this day has come and gone (with only a small amount of the little buggers emerging out in the western suburbs). Apparently the ground temperature isn't quite warm enough just yet and so they're holding out on us; much to the delight of the local news stations who seem to have special teams on-hand just to cover this event. Yawn.

This whole phenomenon is a bit cool, but mostly gross; the image of these things, all red-eyed, emerging from the ground in droves, all of the detailed macro pictures, the thing with the backs of the exoskeleton splitting open and the fully-formed adult pushing its way out, children describing them as "sticky" when handled, and the stench of their carcasses likened to Limburger cheese. It's a true assault on the senses (you can even eat them if you'd like).

So there you have it — the cicadas are still coming, just arriving a little later than expected. They'll look gross, sound loud, and then smell bad. We don't know about you, but we can't wait.

Image via Cicada Mania.