Brood X

this is gonna be a short one, but hopefully informative.
Brood X involves three different species of cicadas.
They emerge every 17 years for a period of 6-8 weeks, in enormous droves.
at the end of spring they will emerge from the ground and crawl upward - onto anything not moving.
they will hang out for about two weeks until their predators are satiated.
the remaining cicadas will then begin to mate, the male dying as soon as the process is over, the female laying her eggs in a branch before keeling over.
when the eggs hatch they will fall to the ground and burrow a couple feet, where they will remain for another 17 years.
brilliant!

so meg (and anyone else who may be terrified of the coming summer), pack your bags and head out west!