Cicadas to invade Chicago

April 9, 2007 (WLS) -- Get ready for a loud summer -- the 17-year cicadas are coming to Chicago.

They're out there. Millions of them. After 17 years feeding on root juice in the ground, they'll soon climb into the light of day. The red-eyed, clear-winged periodical cicada will be back in such numbers that some lawns will move like they're alive.

"Anything that occurs in the millions every 17 years, I think that's great," said Melisa Senf, Lake Co. Forest Pres. cicada educator.

In Lake County, they're celebrating cicada-mania. Audrey Salzman's second grade class at Sprague Elementary got a chance today to look like a cicada, and make noise like a cicada, and check out the model from 17-years ago. <p "Their mouths are like straw and their wings are shaped like tents," said Michelle Sun, Sprague Elementary second grader.

"They look kind of scary. I think I heard them on a tape somewhere. I heard their call. Now you'll hear them for real - yeah, that's gonna be really fun," said Ali Saeed, Sprague Elementary second grader.

Everyone is going to hear them. As part of their mating ritual, the males sing by vibrating their abdomens. Each cicada creates noise equal to 90-decibels, so think of it as a million kitchen blenders all running at once.

Seventeen years ago, in parts of Lake County - particularly wooded parts like Ryerson Woods, cicadas numbered a-million-and-a-half an acre.

"Someone called and they had a jazz ensemble in 1990 and the cicadas were like filling the horns and they couldn't play loud enough to exceed the sound of the cicadas," said Jennifer Filipiak, Lake Co. Forest Pres. Wildlife Bio.

Outdoor events- late May through June - might get a bit buggy. The Cicadas don't bite, don't carry disease, and don't eat the garden. They just want to have babies and avoid getting eaten themselves.

"They're a great source of nutrients and animals everywhere will be eating them. If you can eat a cicada, you'll be eating a cicada," said Alison Lehnen, Lake Co. Forest Pres. environmental educator.

Yes. People sometimes eat them too.

The emergence will come later next month when the ground temperature reaches the mid-60s. The cicadas will be around for just a few weeks - making noise - laying eggs, and then they die. And in 17 years, they do it again.

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