David Hammond wrote:Ramon, what you've got there is a cicada with an STD. There is a fungus, Massospora cicadina, that comes out at the same time as the periodical cicadas do. And yes, only every 17 years. Ponder that for a minute. Anyhow, the fungus is transmitted during mating. It's not uncommon. I've seen many, many with it.

Aaah! The white tipped cicadas are not pregnant but infected -- spread by intimacy. I assumed because the more sex I saw, the more white-tails I saw, it must be pregnancy.
Logical fallacy warnings and correlation does not prove causation. Thanks for straightening that out.

evolution of funghi

and just cause I can’t help myself:
Phil Vettel: what the cicadas have taught us
when millions of cicadas die, the nose knows
say goodbye, say hello
Garrison Keillor: Fathers and 17-year cicadas have too much in common
set your clock by cicada visits
cicada time-lapse video
yeah, yeah, yeah, I’ll shut up now about the cicadas, maybe …
-ramon

You just *knew* that it had to happen. But remember, it started HERE, on LTH!!




Geo

A buzz! Get it? A buzz!

Ha. Ha.

In the spirit of LAZ’s great food music thread, I dare mention cicada again.

The Chicago based band, Congress of Starlings, are very clever with their instruments and actual cicada song on the track Brood XIII (stream or download).

-ramon

Me and the B were walking around Brookfield Zoo today, more being father and daughter than looking at the animals. Often we walked awkwardly, like Siamese twins, joined at the hip and head, in our matched cool-cicada T-shirts. Toward closing, we were informed that the carousel had two red eye cicadas available to ride upon. We didn't miss a beat as we rushed to the sight:

-ramon

Hi,

I am President Pro Tem of the Highland Park Historical Society. JoBe Cerny on our board created a video to for Halloween with a Cicada theme:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yBFgI71og4

Not only is this playing on youtube.com, it is also screened at the Highland Park Theater's main theater.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

I am President Pro Tem of the Highland Park Historical Society. JoBe Cerny on our board created a video to for Halloween with a Cicada theme:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yBFgI71og4

Not only is this playing on youtube.com, it is also screened at the Highland Park Theater's main theater.

Regards,

I laughed, I cried. The feel good video of the season...better than "Free Willy." Take someone you love. Two very enthusiastic thumbs up.

Hi,

It has nearly been a year since Brood XIII Cicadas visited us. It was my third generation I have been interacted with and fondly remember their parents and grandparents. The first time I was a teenager, where I largely collected specimens that I have kept in a jar of alcohol ever since. I also used to pick them up and throw them at my sisters. They screamed and I laughed.

The second generation appeared in 1990 was one of missed opportunity. I knew they were edible, but didn't have the support group of people willing to take a chance with me. Later I read of an entomologist at the Field Museum who had a gathering to eat cicadas on pizzas. I felt I had missed my tribe.

The third generation far and away made up for my muddling the earlier cicada opportunities. I had my partner in crime in David Hammond's willingness to do the deed and eat it, too. Of course, it did become a three-ring circus when David made a flip statement on yelp on a thread querying if anyone planned to dine on cicadas. In a long string on yucks, David sensibly replied, "A friend and I intend to cook and eat them." Next thing you know: Good Morning America inquires for an interview, which we participated along with Marilyn Pocius of Chicago's Cook's Guide. Right on top of that was Chicago Tonight, Japanese television and David doing a number of radio interviews.

Marilyn Pocius was inspired to party like it was her last chance for another 17 years: Cicada Cooking and Eating Party. David, his wife Carolyn, Marilyn and I had already created cicada tempura, cicada sushi rolls, cicada variants of 'Ants on a Log' and the long imagined cicadas on pizza. Until this time, we had mostly confined our efforts to the newly emerged cicadas who didn't have the big red eyes ("All the better to see you!") or those long wings. This was a unique event, I was inspired to do something special.

My friend Helen had joked her Mother had suggested I collect cicadas and freeze them, upon her next visit she would make Cicada adobo. This was a new direction in our culinary efforts, which I decided to try at Marilyn's party. I found it was not too difficult to collect newly molted cicadas who were resting after their transformation. My home seemed to be the neighborhood locus for cicada activity, which allowed me to quickly collect 300 cicadas from my front yard. Cicadas lacking much in experience did not quake or try to get away when I collected and deposited them in a plastic bag. In fact they made no effort to get away, just milled around the bag stepping on each other as seen in this youtube video clip. I then took them inside and put them into the freezer to kill them. Once dead, I began pulling the wings off the cicadas, which I later put to good use:



As I was more than halfway through the process of de-winging the cicadas, I noticed they were beginning to reanimate. I tucked those whose wings were clipped back into the freezer and continued on until finished. Into a pot, I added one cup vinegar and one-half cup soy sauce and brought it to a boil. I then added the wingless cicadas, brought it to a boil again, then turned it down to a simmer for 5-10 minutes. As these cicadas were cooking, I noticed they began to shrink. Once I was satisfied these were cooked, I removed the cicadas with a slotted spoon to a sieve to drain.

I took out my frying pan, heated some oil and added maybe 5 large cloves of minced garlic. I then returned the cicadas to fry in the oil, which had the interesting affect of causing them to puff up to their original size. It's too bad I didn't have a video running because it looked like they were going to take their revenge. Once they were fried, I returned them to the vinegar-soy sauce they had been cooked in.

Image courtesy of G Wiv


When I cook this again in 16 years, I will serve separately the twice-cooked fried cicadas with the vinegar-soy sauce and rice on the side to be mixed to taste. It would keep the cicada texture more crisp.

My impression of the party was one of the Christians being fed to the lions. Approximately 2/3rds present did not care to eat a cicada in any shape or form, though they delighted in watching the other 1/3rd do the deed. While I am quite inspired by Marilyn's idea and efforts, I would slightly retool the invitation: come if you intend to eat cicadas or stay home! Of course, this is spoken from the perspective of the cicada eating guest.



I have to admit the spring has not been as much fun as last year. I miss those cicadas.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote: My home seemed to be the neighborhood locus for cicada activity, which allowed me to quickly collect 300 cicadas from my front yard.

You would think that at least one Cicada would have looked up your resume and sounded the alarm, C2!

Having missed the boat on the party, I was terribly grateful when you showed up at the Evanston Lunch Group with a box of the Cicada chocolate chip cookies, as I'd been dying to try insect protein for years...they were delicious, too, with the cicada adding an interesting sesame-oil tang.

I still have caterpillar stir-fry, ant-egg omelet and snake on my to-taste list!

The Case for Eating Insects.

Yep, Illinois forecasts of big cicada hatch prove true

DECATUR, Ill. — Bug scientists warned central Illinois that this summer would be a big one for cicadas. They were right.

The hatch of 13-year cicadas is – depending on your point of view – either ruining evenings or just adding to the sounds of summer across much of the region

Count Jeannine Garner of Decatur among the bugs' detractors. She told The (Decatur) Herald & Review that the bugs are irritating.

But University of Illinois entomologist Phil Nixon says many of the calls he's taking are from people wondering where they can see and hear the noisy bugs.

When I visit my sister in Bloomington, I now know what to wear: a souvenir cicada shirt from 2007!

Regards,

Missouri cicada ice cream seller told to cool it

A public health official in central Missouri has asked an ice cream shop to cool it with the cicada ice cream, even though customers apparently can't get enough of it.

Sparky's Homemade Ice Cream in Columbia, Mo., sold out of its only batch of the insect-filled dessert within hours of its June 1 debut.

The Columbia-Missourian says employees collected the cicadas in their backyards and removed most of the dead bugs' wings. They then boiled the bugs and covered them in brown sugar and milk chocolate. The base ice cream is brown sugar and butter flavor.

Was just down in mid-Tennessee, mostly between Nashville and Chattanooga. The cicadas down there are everywhere. I always tried to draft in back of a semi to avoid being pummeled by them on the highways.

Cathy2 wrote:Yep, Illinois forecasts of big cicada hatch prove true

DECATUR, Ill. — Bug scientists warned central Illinois that this summer would be a big one for cicadas. They were right.

The hatch of 13-year cicadas is – depending on your point of view – either ruining evenings or just adding to the sounds of summer across much of the region

Count Jeannine Garner of Decatur among the bugs' detractors. She told The (Decatur) Herald & Review that the bugs are irritating.

But University of Illinois entomologist Phil Nixon says many of the calls he's taking are from people wondering where they can see and hear the noisy bugs.

When I visit my sister in Bloomington, I now know what to wear: a souvenir cicada shirt from 2007!

Regards,

Hi Cathy2,
Here in Bloomington, there are no cicadas. But I was in Decatur (a mere 40 mi away) yesterday and the cicadas were deafening and dive bombing my head. Thankfully, B-N is spared this time.

Last night there was a strange loud siren like sound which scared my kitty ... it was coming from a huge bug hanging on the screen ... I closed the window, and later realized it was a cicada ... are they in season again?

SGFoxe wrote:Last night there was a strange loud siren like sound which scared my kitty ... it was coming from a huge bug hanging on the screen ... I closed the window, and later realized it was a cicada ... are they in season again?

There are annual cicadas that come out every year. As far as I know, those are the ones that are around right now.

I have seen plenty of cicada sketeton shells in my gardern lately which I do not recall seeing before.

Elfin wrote:I have seen plenty of cicada sketeton shells in my gardern lately which I do not recall seeing before.

Probably good fertilizer!!