[Smiler]

I was raking up all the leaves and manky grapefruit from under the tree and saw these weirdo's. :uhoh They really gave me the heeby geebies!

There's dozens of them, clinging to the branches and they are really creepy. :eek: I thought they were alive and just not moving, but it just seems to be the casts.

Underneath the tree are lots of holes that look like they've been made with a pencil. I'm not sure if these have come up from them or gone down the. I've looked up moths etc, but really can't look at any more bug pics or I'll have nightmares.

Does anyone have any idea's please? :)

[Jo Jo]

Oh yuck - why did I look? Could they be cicada nymphs? (http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/research/biosystematics/invertebrates/invertid/bug_details.asp?Bu_ID=172)

[Moorf]

Yeah... ummm... about our visit.... :exit

[Smiler]

Oh Jo I'd looked round that site for ages (well til I felt sick anyway!!!:()

They're horrid, arent they?

Thank you very much.

D

[Smiler]

Yeah... ummm... about our visit.... :exit


lol be me! I nearly ^%&)*$ myself!

AND

they're on the grapefruit tree outside our bedroom window:exit

[Moorf]

they're on the grapefruit tree outside our bedroom window

:eek:

So, if G wasn't already sleeping by the window.. he is now, eh? :laugh

PS- Don't eat any cheese before bed 2nite!!

[Jo Jo]

Oh Jo I'd looked round that site for ages (well til I felt sick anyway!!!:()

They're horrid, arent they?

Thank you very much.

D

They are really horrid! We found some the other day - bleugh.

[Questor]

Definitely cicada exoskeleton. We've had quite a few this summer

We've also had a fair few weta around the garden - I think they're ace :)

[Sam B]

My kids have a collection of discarded cicada skins in their bedrooms, along with other horrors - skulls etc

[vixxann]

OMG - they are gross :exit

[shakyle2906]

Now i am glad we chopped our grapefruit tree down............
Only really because we were sick of picking the manky grapefruit up off the ground and it was taking over our garden!

Sharon
x

[tea drinker]

Fantastic photos but I can understand what you mean!!!
Is it just grapefruit trees they like?

[fruitfly]

Be kind to the insects (cicadas), they have been waiting for like 20 years underground just to appear into the open to mate and die. They don't bite, just noisy.

[randomone]

they are beautiful insects - I love them and they will quite happily sit on you if you keep still. Nothing to be frightened of. ... and yep, hardcore to live underground for 20years!

[Smiler]

The casts are actually, hmmmmmmm beautiful isn't the word, maybe fascinating. :confused:


I've been brave and looked real close, but can't see how they've whipped out of their little skins, there's no cracks or splits. There are lots more holes under the acer tree and camellia bush today as well. Maybe they just like that area of the garden? Weird huh?

Fruitfly - You're not related? :D They live in those holes for 20 years? You're kidding, right?

Moorf - We've got screens on the bedroom windows that we have open. Thank goodness or I would have nightmares.

Sharon - I love this grapefruit tree, it's been here many years, maybe since the house was built and we juice the fruit and I'm planning on doing marmalade next week. But if ever a tree was in the wrong place? It's now grown so big it's making the bedroom dark and our windows are 9-10 ft tall! If this place was ours I'd have to prune it severely! I can understand you chooping yours if it's a big one though, they do get really messy.

Sam B - :exit

[Jo Jo]

There's a video of a cicada emerging from the nymph here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go4MqVq9HVM (don't worry - it's not disgusting!)

[bob_the_engineer]

Hi smiler,

Fruitflys quite right, they are years old by the time they turn up above ground. We have lots of them in NZ so we get them every year, but I remember watching a doco about an area where they only got them say once every 25years. They all appeared for a few weeks then nothing for another 25 years.

I love them, the noise they make is so nice. I’m not big on bugs but they are great, especially their big eyes, and harmless nature. I know someone who used to sit them on their nose (when she was a kid) and have staring competitions with them.

Brave lass eh. :exit

Bob

[kzn2nz]

Those are so beautiful! They have amazing life cycles (some as long as 60 years or more) and are really interesting to watch. Absolutely harmless, (other than the squeal the cicadas emit being very loud!) they are a blast to catch and hold in your hand. It is obviously terrifying for the cicada but very interesting and educational for kids.

Great post.

[Smiler]

Hi Bob

LTNS. I'm not big on bugs either. :exit

But I love the sound of cicada's. They've been chirping til late at night here in the hot weather and it really lulls you to sleep.

I really, really, really don't want to sit one on my nose. I got one tangled in my hair at Ocean beach a couple of years ago and was frantic. OH didn't know whether to help or reach for the camera!:mad:

I did manage to watch Jo's link though (thanks Jo):nice1

[boatieman]

is this a link to how kwis manage? Cos they look like shrimps to me!!:laugh

[Ojai]

Oh, I'm so glad there will be cicadas there! I grew up in the American midwest, and the cicadas sing there all summer long.

I remember catching nymphs as a kid, and love watching them buzz around (except for when a full brood hatches, of course!)

[ndheah]

Bugs, they are not my thing, but I guess I wouldn't be bothered by those, since they are not attacking me :-)

[Carol]

We've also had a fair few weta around the garden - I think they're ace :)


Yeah..... they are....


TILL THEY BITE YA!

OUCH!!!!!!!!!!
:exit

[thezorbster]

We have a huge oak tree in our garden and when we moved in all the little cracks in the bark where full of the discarded skins. My daughter and a friend then decided it would be nice to 'collect them for Mummy' and whilst I was busy indoors they collected a whole bucketful by firstly picking them off and then, when they couldn't reach any higher they acquired the garden rake and managed to rake the higher ones off. I was then presented with the present. Oh the joy of children!:exit

[theSingsons]

Cicada exoskellies! well at least they contribute to the atmosphere once dawn or twilight starts... they sing and give you a great romantic (sometimes annoying) concert.

[Ojai]

Hopefully they don't brood like they do here. While I like them most years in the summer, I hate trying to do, well, anything when the sky and ground is blackened with millions and millions of them.

[Ojai]

Imagine this everywhere you look

[Smiler]

Imagine this everywhere you look


:eek::eek::exit

[JandM]

And where was that taken?

[beekeeper]

:eek::eek::exit

The worst part is the smell. Oh, the smell.

[Ojai]

And where was that taken?

The midwest of the US. There are broods all over the place though. Check out the map here: http://www.indiana.edu/~preserve/research/CicadasPres/slide14.html

[theSingsons]

Gosh... more like a plague :smile