After hiding underground for the last 17 years, billions of cicadas will take to the skies this summer, from Tennessee to Cape Cod.
These cicadas, known as Brood XIV, will cover more of the U.S. than any other 17-year brood. They are also the original brood from which all other 17-year broods branched off.
After surfacing in May and June, these cicadas will issue their noisy, chirping mating call for just a few short weeks before laying eggs and dying. Their offspring will remain dormant underground for another 17 years.
Cicadas surface all at once to overwhelm their predators, ensuring that at least some insects survive and reproduce. They provide such a bounty of food to squirrels, lizards, birds, and other creatures that their emergence can send ripples through the food web.
One study found that after cicadas surface, cuckoos, blue jays, and red-bellied woodpeckers grow in number. Another showed how, by supplying more food to birds, cicadas allow caterpillars to multiply — and inflict more damage on oaks.
As the planet warms, cicadas may shift their timing. A study in Japan found that hotter weather is causing the insects to emerge earlier in the year. And over the long term, warming may shorten the number of years that cicadas hide underground.
Biodiversity
Welcome to c/Biodiversity @ Mander.xyz!
A community about the variety of life on Earth at all levels; including plants, animals, bacteria, and fungi.
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This is a work in progress, please don't mind the mess.
2023-06-16: We invite our users to contribute resources for the sidebar.
2023-06-15: Looking for mods!
About
Biodiversity is a term used to describe the enormous variety of life on Earth. It can be used more specifically to refer to all of the species in one region or ecosystem. Biodiversity refers to every living thing, including plants, bacteria, animals, and humans. Scientists have estimated that there are around 8.7 million species of plants and animals in existence. However, only around 1.2 million species have been identified and described so far, most of which are insects. This means that millions of other organisms remain a complete mystery.
Over generations, all of the species that are currently alive today have evolved unique traits that make them distinct from other species. These differences are what scientists use to tell one species from another. Organisms that have evolved to be so different from one another that they can no longer reproduce with each other are considered different species. All organisms that can reproduce with each other fall into one species. Read more...
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- Don't throw mud. Be kind and remember the human.
- Keep it rooted (on topic).
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Resources
- The Convention on Biological Diversity (UN)
- The Biodiversity Heritage Library
- Maps of the World's Biodiversity
- Ecosystems and Human Well-Being (free e-book)
- Falling Fruit: Map of the Urban Harvest
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- Anna's Archive
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I’m just gonna say it: there should be fewer cicada broods. We already have like 16 types of ice. We’re supposed to remember what ice IX is and brood IX is? That’s like trying to remember which Google app name means “send a text message.” Google Talk XIII or whatever cursed thing we’re on now. Just far too many.
Just what we need right now.
A plague of locusts seems totally on-brand along with everything else happening in the US, to be honest.