17-Year Cicadas To Appear Tide Spring
WASHINGTON - A huge and
mysterious family, whose an
cestors the Pilgrims noted with
horror, will pop up for one of its
infrequent but unerringly
predictable visits this spring.
The expected visitors will be 17-
year cicadas. Countless millions of
them will emerge from the ground
in the northeastern quarter of the
United States between mid-May
and early June.
The nymphs, as undeveloped
dcadas are called, will climb up
tree trunks, fence posts, weed
stalks, and other convenient
vertical objects. There they’ll split
their skins, leaving abandoned
husks all over the place, and
anerge, soft and white.
Within a few hours, their shells
rill harden and turn blade and
heir orange-veined wings will
stiffen. Then the transformed
nature insects, red-eyed and an
inch and a half long, will fly to the
treetops.
There the males will sing their
loud mating song. (Hi, how they’ll
sing. For several cacophonous
weeks, from dawn to dusk, the
'loisemaking membranes on their
abdomens will make the insects an
insistent and unavoidable
iresence.
“There’s a general din,” says
diehard C. Froeschner, a
Smithsonian Institution en
tomologist. “In a woods where
hey’re abundant, you have to
shout to be heard.”
But Froeschner and other en
tomologists are quick to defend the
unloved cicadas. Except for
tarmless sap-sucking, says
'roeschner, “These things don’t
jat anything.”
Gene Wood, a professor of en
omology at the University of
Maryland, goes a step further.
‘They don’t hurt anybody and
they’re not a health threat,” he
says, “so we might as well enjoy
em while we can.”
There are some exceptions,
lowever. After the cicadas have
mated, the females deposit 400 to
800 eggs in slits they carve at the
ends of branches. In six or seven
weeks, nymphs hatch, fall to the
ground, and tunnel in for their 17-
vear burial. On a mature tree, the
ip of the branch dies, but the tree
s usually not harmed.
ee abandoned husks, one the skins of periodical cicadas, a<
decoration to a tree trunk.
Not as formidable as it looks, the 17-year cicada is
scheduled to make one of its unerringly predictable visits to
the northeastern quarter of the United States this spring.
Millions of the black-bodied insects will sing, mate, lay eggs
and die within a month after they emerge from the ground,
starting in mid-May. They’re an inch and a half long and have
red eyes and orange-veined wings. But they don’t bite or
sting and cause little damage.
Young trees are something else.
Loss of the branch tips, a process
known as “flagging,” can weaken
or kill them. This can grieve
homeowners and orchardists alike.
Wood recommends covering young
trees with plastic mesh. He prefers
this method to insecticide sprays,
because sprays harm other forms
of life.
Some Scared Badly
Another exception is people who
go beyond common aversion to
insects and suffer from an insect
phobia. While cicadas neither bite
nor sting, their noise and numbers
combine to make a formidable
presence.
“I can imagine it would make
some people incredibly anxious, to
the point where they would have
anxiety attacks,” says Paul A.
Buongiomo, a Fairfax, Va.,
psychiatrist.
But somehow, in the view of the
entomologists, the mild-mannered
creatures deserve a friendlier
reception than they receive from
an unappreciative public.
After all, they’re by far the
longest-living insects on earth.
Distinctive to the United States,
they’re divided into 20 broods.
Brood X, for number 10, is the
largest of all. It’s the one due to
arrive in the East this spring.
Scarcely a year goes by without
the appearance of a brood
somewhere.
The last emergence of Brood X
was in 1970. It coincided with the
arrival of a brood of 13-year
cicadas relatives that live in the
South and Midwest for the first
time since 1742 in a joint ap
pearance that occurs only every
221 years. Next show: 2184.
Records of Brood X date back to
1715. Periodical cicadas not to
be confused with every late
summer’s common cicadas, also
called harvest flies and dog-days
cicadas have been known in this
country since 1634, when they
dropped in on the Pilgrims.
But the deeply religious Pilgrims
misnamed the cicadas locusts,
thinking the insects were the
ravenous type referred to in the
stories of Biblical plagues.
a seasonal
Conrad Weiser FFA Chapter
Honors Outstanding Members
ROBESONIA - The annual
Conrad Weiser FFA Banquet was
held Thursday, March sth at the
high school.
Following a buffet style beef and
ham dinner, families, faculty, and
special guests gathered in the
auditorium for the presentation of
awards.
Second, third, and fourth grade
students who received trophies last
October at the chapter’s Annual
Pumpkin Contest were presented
with trophies.
In the best decorated category,
prizes were awarded to Sonja
Root, second grade; Amie Forry,
third grade; and Michele Ruscio,
fourth grade.
Prizes for the heaviest pumpkin
went to Adam Murdough, second
grade; Jimmy Latshaw, third
grade; and Jason Kleinfelter,
fourth grade.
Most unusually shaped pumpkin
awards were presented to Lindsay
Phillips, second grade; Matt
Auchenbach, third grade; and
Steven Ulrich, fourth grade.
Becky Sonnen, chapter vice
president, presented Certificates
of Appreciation to Richard and
Darlene Kuhn, Kuhn’s Trophies;
Robesonia Flowers and Gifts, a
local florist; Paul Sell, a night
custodian; David Hanagan, H&H
Porters; and Ferdinand Kuczala,
an art teacher.
Karen Fessler, chapter reporter,
presented special awards to Kim
Noel, Karen Hartman, Sylvia
Alexander, and Christy Aulen
bach, business students who serve
Use of the incorrect name
persists. Many people call them
locusts, confusing them with plant
devouring insects related to
grasshoppers and katydids.
The unsolved mystery of the
periodical cicadas is their un
failingly accurate natural
timeclock. Scientists have been
trying to crack the puzzle for
centuries. They’re no closer than
when they started.
Get Ready For Brood X
And so once again this year, for
the 16th time since 1715, Brood X
will boisterously appear. The
nymphs, which have been lurking
18 to 24 inches underground for 17
years, sucking root sap, will burst
forth instantaneously some
evening.
The dime-sized holes they leave
in lawns, gardens, fields, and
sandboxes won’t kill grass or
anything else. In fact, says the
Smithsonian’s Froeschner, the
holes will catch rain and help
aerate the soil.
Once above ground, the cicadas
will culminate their long lives in
four climactic activities: They will
court, mate, lay eggs, and die.
They will bring happiness to
birds, which will feast on their
succulent bodies. Dogs and cats,
too, will find them to be satisfying
snacks. In the old days, Indians ate
them. One expert, the late Henry
Dybas of Chicago’s Field Museum
of Natural History, has written;
"Those of us who have tried them
describe the taste as something
like that of a raw potato with a
touch of avocado or clam juice.”
Finally, after five or six weeks,
silence will return to the treetops
until another brood of cicadas pays
a visit.
as secretaries for the FFA Chapter
and the agriculture department.
The chapter officers presented the
Honorary FFA Degree to Glenn
and Joan Fessler, the parents of
chapter president Kay Fessler, Joe
Butcavage, a member of the night
custodial staff, and Norman
Luckenbill, manager of the Agway
store at Leesport.
Kirk Sattazahn, chapter
chaplain, presented the Blue and
Gold Award to David Moerder.
Moerder is an industrial arts
teacher, and each year helps the
chapter with the slide show.
An FFA member in each grade
is presented with a scholarship
award. The award is given to the
member receiving the highest
grade point average. The following
received this award: ninth grade,
Jason Stewart; tenth grade, Karen
Fessler; eleventh grade, Becky
Sonnen.
Leadership awards were
presented to Karen Fessler and
Kirk Sattazahn. Nathan Snyder
placed first in the Chapter Creed
Speaking Contest and received an
FFA jacket. Christine Houck and
Jason Stewart received desk
plaques for placing second and
third.
High sales awards were
presented. Doug Putt won the High
Sales Award for the processed
meats sale as well as the Overall
High Chapter Sales Award.
The high salesmen for the citrus
sale were recognized. Kirk Sat
tazahn was first, Karen Fessler
was second, and Tim Pajski was
third.
The tollowing members received
trophies in recognition for their
performance at the State FFA
Contests held at the Pennsylvania
State University last June.
Kay Fessler, a junior, received a
gold emblem for placing sixth in
the Conservation Public Speaking
Contest.
Brenda McFarland, a
sophomore, received a gold em
blem for placing fourth in the FFA
Creed Contest.
Kirk Sattazahn, a sophomore,
received a gold emblem for
placing first in the FFA Creed
Contest.
Karen Fessler, a sophomore,
received a gold emblem for
placing first in the Dairy Foods
Contest.
Steven Miller, chapter advisor,
presented plaques to honor C.
Andrew Hess and Scott Troutman
for receiving their American
Farmer Degrees. Mary Jo Can
celmo was recognized as a
recipient of the Honorary Keystone
Farmer Degree.
The guest speaker was Mrs.
Deborah Bowers, a former Conrad
Weiser FFA member, state of
ficer, and a graduate of Penn State
University. The chapter officers
presented a slide show entitled, “A
Year To Remember.” It featured
major chapter events of the past
year, classroom work, and
Supervised Occupational Ex
perience projects. David Moerder
helped the officers produce the
program with his professional
sound mixing equipment.
FFA Foundation Awards are
given to members who have out
standing supervised occupational
experience projects. Each student
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