“In May, a swarm of billions of cicadas known as Brood X will emerge from the earth after hibernating for the past 17 years.” — Slate
1. Spent their entire adolescence sequestered in isolation, patiently waiting for their moment in the sun, with barely any entertainment.
2. Basically never saw their parents.
3. Identifiable by bodies clad in black or sometimes dark green, as well as obvious veining and red eyes.
4. You may not realize it, but a small number of them actually emerge in public each year.
5. They feed on saps.
6. Impress the observer as at once prehistoric and adaptive.
7. Prefer an environment that they construe as “underground.”
8. Even in small bands, their decibel level can exceed 100, with a sludgy, distorted electric sound, generated by strumming special external structures, utilized to attract mates.
9. While they are not exactly individualists, they are pretty direct about their own wants and needs.
10. Use an ovipositor to create a slit in the woody tissues of trees, fabricating a conduit to inject eggs.
11. Even with advance notice, everyone seems surprised when they show up.
12. Due to their low profile, scientists have not studied them as intently as other cohorts.
13. Once had a subscription to Sassy magazine.
14. The last time they engaged in this much furious procreation, Ani DiFranco was playing on repeat at a perilously high volume.
15. Not exactly nostalgic for their cloistered past, but the future seems overrated.
16. Cannot be bothered with this emergence for more than a couple of weeks.
17. Are preparing for a series of gross and horrifying things to begin happening to their bodies very soon.
18. Just want to be left alone.
19. Whatever.
Brood X: 10
Gen X: 13
Both: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19