Return of the Cicadas by Samuel Orr

Watch Return of the Cicadas by Samuel Orr, a beautifully shot film that shows the insect’s unique 17-year life cycle in detail.

With soil temperatures along the East Coast now above the mid-60’s, the Brood II cicadas are up and chirping! Check out WNYC/Radiolab’s real-time Cicada Tracker map to see where they have been observed:

The video above is a jaw-droppingly superb look at the rise of the Magicicada from its underground lair, their mass ascent to the trees, their monstrous metamorphosis into adults, and their brief mission to avoid being eaten and reproduce…

More cicada stuff:

• Why do these periodic cicadas only pop up every 13 or 17 years (depending on the exact brood)? I was a guest on New Hampshire public radio to talk about the evolutionary advantage of prime numbers and enormous populations. 
• Illustrated cicada emergence in GIF form!
• Time-lapse video of a Brood XIX cicada emerging

Sir David Attenborough with cicadas and so many insect videos in the archives.