1979 is a cicada year
Already, from the Carolinas to New York, little holes are appearing in lawns and backyards, hillsides and woodlands. Any evening now, out will pop millions of dark little bugs. They will scamper up almost any upright object—trees, poles, buildings—and soon strike up a joyous racket, marking nuptial rites after being buried alive for 17 years.
They are periodical cicadas (pronounced sih-Kay-duhs), the world's longest-lived insects. Despite a locust-like appearance, they neither bite nor sting nor devastate vegetation. Entomologists currently count 19 separate "broods," which appear at various times in different parts of the country, some once every 13...
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