A Huge Outdoor Orgy Is Beginning; Humans Not Invited
by Veronique Greenwood
May 22, 2013
2 minutes
When the cicadas of Brood II burst into open air—and into song—later this month, after living 17 years in darkness below ground, they will have one thing on their collective, eerily synchronized mind: sex. Though millions of humans inhabiting the mid-Atlantic states will soon hear the insects’ incredible racket, they’re probably unaware that what they’re hearing is an enormous mating festival.
These particular insects have, , or just sit out on the porch in their deafening hum, pondering the peculiarities of other species’ reproductive habits.
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