The morning walk into the front yard, where the delivery man threw the newspapers early on, is currently an unpleasant business in Washington.

One careless step and your feet will crunch.

The American capital is currently the center of a special natural spectacle - or a real nuisance.

Hundreds of cicadas are now lying on the lawn in front of the house, slowly crawling towards the oak.

It is the beginning of the great migration that takes place every 17 years in the east of America: Brood X has hatched.

Majid Sattar

Political correspondent for North America based in Washington.

  • Follow I follow

    Weeks ago, small holes were visible in the garden, which announced the arrival of the insects.

    Now the red-eyed "cicadas" are on their way, which will soon spread real noise terror with their deafening chirping.

    Because spring on the east coast was a little fresher than usual, the cicadas took a little more time.

    But now that the ground is around 18 degrees, they come out of their holes in which they buried themselves 17 years ago.

    At that time as nymphs, as the insects are called in their youth stage, because - unlike larvae - they already resemble their later form externally.

    wonder of nature

    Entomologists, i.e. entomologists, are currently ousting virologists and epidemiologists from the media. They explain the spectacle: Brood X comes out of the hole and climbs the nearest tree. The insect sheds its skin: the white body needs a few days to harden. Then the cicada flies into the treetop. This is where the pairing takes place. The females draw attention to themselves by clicking their wings. The men woo them with their loud singing - a vibrating membrane produces the chirping of the genus Magicicada. After successful fertilization, the females lay their eggs in the branches that they have previously cut. After a few weeks, the nymphs hatch and dig into the ground, where they feed on the juices of the tree roots for the next 17 years.

    So the life of the cicada species on the surface of the earth is a short joke: after it has provided for offspring, they perish. The sad cycle of this life made the neighbor tease recently at a first meeting of the street community after the pandemic: “And we complain about a fortnightly quarantine requirement!” Washington may be the center of the plague - but a total of 15 states are affected. Billions of insects are expected to interfere with life in the open air for two or three weeks. Every barbecue, every outdoor wedding is affected. Not only because of the loud chirping - the animals also like to land on people. It is also important to protect yourself from the rain of cicadas, the secretions of the insects. On the trees, they drain excess fluid.

    For birds and squirrels, however, the spectacle is cause for joy. For them, the proteinaceous cicadas are a real feast. In the capital of the plague, the phenomenon provides political analogies every 17 years. It was once said that the insects would emerge years later to inquire whether Richard Nixon had finally been charged. Ronald Reagan compared "the strange flying things" that came in large numbers in sultry Washington and made a lot of noise with the Democrats who want to increase government spending: They had been underground for some time, he said in a radio address, and there belonged they go back too. 17 years ago, George W. Bush was preparing to campaign against John Kerry. He accused the Democrat of wanting to skin like a cicada,to appear as a fiscal conservative.

    And today? After all, Joe Biden is the first Democrat since Franklin Delano Roosevelt who can watch the spectacle from the White House. Entomologists point out that there are no political reasons why the animals have recently shown themselves more frequently under Republican presidents. Why they come out of their holes every 17 years remains a scientific mystery to this day.