It's Cicada Season!

Maybe these two should get a hotel room instead of putting on a public display on my lawn.  Gotta' love nature.  If you hear a buzzing sound up in the trees, it can only be one thing.  Cicadas!  I caught the couple above and the one below just long enough to sneak up close for some detailed pictures.  I apologized to the couple above for the intrusion. 

They've been buzzing around me for the past couple of weeks.  It's their time to emerge from the ground fully mature, race to breed and then die.  Then the life cycle starts all over again.

The life cycle can be rather long.  Sometimes up to 17 years.  The mature female lays her eggs in a slit she creates in a young limb.  Once the eggs hatch (nymphs), they fall to the ground and burrow down.  Anywhre from 2 to 8 feet.  They feed off of tree roots, but not enough to cause damage.  They may stay in the ground for several years.  Once the conditions are just right and the ground is warm enough they emerge and start the race to populate all over.