Here comes the Cicadas! Billions of dormant Cicadas are shedding their outer shells and beginning to appear from a 17-year hibernation across the southern east coast, and the Philadelphia region is next.
• Photos taken Sunday show some Cicadas shedding outer shell that surrounds them during hibernation.
• Their bodies will thicken and turn darker, then they will look for mates.
• There are more than 15 'broods' of cicadas in different geographic areas, with life cycles up to 17 years.
Cicadas have been pictured a little further south, shedding their exoskeletons, emerging with red eyes, and black wings after enduring their 17-year hibernation.
The colony's re-emergence has been delayed by cooler the normal weather in the Philadelphia area, because the noisy insects will only come above ground when the soil is a consistent 64 degrees Fahrenheit.
Photos taken Sunday show Cicadas emerging in Washington, DC and Alexandria, and Virginia. Philadelphia can expect the same within a week or two. This will be the big brood – the same one that emerged in the spring and early summer of 2004. Call Evans Pest Control at (267) 582-2687 to learn more about this bug, and how to control your pests this summer!