The Return of the Cicadas! 🚨
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Episode 82 Description
🪲 Why is everyone talking about cicadas? 🐜 Laine Farber from the Nature Nerds podcast is here with an insect update on the billions of cicadas that are about to swarm the skies across the United States. 🎞 Then, we look at the top five things cicadas have missed in the last 17 years! 🌐 We get the scoop on some of the top headlines from around the globe. 🐐 Plus, test your knowledge with the Trivia Question of the Day!
Links
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Sources for this episode
Main stories:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Facebook
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-53640724
https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/marvel-movies-in-order/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/interactive/2021/cicadas-catch-up-with-the-news/
https://www.computerworld.com/article/2604020/the-evolution-of-apples-iphone.html#slide2
Headlines:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/transgender-protection-hhs/2021/05/10/0852ce88-b17d-11eb-a980-a60af976ed44_story.html
https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-to-determine-start-date-for-stanley-cup-playoffs/c-323497584
https://www.nba.com/key-dates
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/rome-pizza-vending-machine/index.html
https://apnews.com/article/europe-entertainment-coronavirus-pandemic-arts-and-entertainment-oddities-366088a94bfe6b69f2f9fe6dce662540
Trivia:
https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/2021/05/05/reagan-presidential-library-gets-help-goats-clearing-13-acre-brush/4945791001/
https://apnews.com/article/fires-be72736155e4284839a642e30b596902
TRANSCRIPT:
Various Voices 0:00
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Bethany Van Delft 0:06
It's May 13, I'm Bethany Van Delft, and this is The Ten News where we get the lowdown on what's up in the world. This week, America is buzzing about bugs. A group of cicadas are about to start making some noise after spending the last 17 years underground. Let's get to The Ten.
Have you heard the sound where you live? That buzzing is a sign of an insect extravaganza. Laine Farber from the nature nerds podcast is here with an insect update on the billions of cicadas that are about to swarm the skies all across the United States. They're small, they're loud, and they grow underground.
Laine Farber 0:58
I know what you're thinking. And no, this is not a story about magical singing plants. This is a story out something even cooler. A wonderful little bug. Well, billions of wonderful little bugs. Today we're talking about cicadas. But what makes these noisy little critters so newsworthy? Well, this month, a group of rare cicadas are making their debut and covering 15 states in billions of buzzing bugs. The group of cicadas is called brood ten and they only appear once every 17 years. Wow. Now to understand what makes brood ten so special, let's learn some basics about these fabulous flying insects. And to help us with that, let's hear from my friend and insect expert Zach Lemon.
Zach Lemon 1:52
Cicadas are insects that belong to a big group called homopterons. You may be familiar with some other cicada relatives like aphids and leafhoppers.
Laine Farber 2:01
Zach is an animal curator at the Audubon butterfly garden and insectarium down in New Orleans, Louisiana. He knows a lot about bugs.
Zach Lemon 2:04
All homopterons have piercing and sucking mouthparts so they don't chew food. They usually poke this mouth part through a plant stem and suck juice out of the plant.
Laine 2:20
There are over 3000 different species of cicada. Each species has its own special traits that make it unique, like color patterns, calls and diet. Despite their differences, all cicadas start life the same way. They begin their journey as a tiny little egg on a leaf. Once the egg hatches, the baby cicada called a cicada nymph, wiggles its way down to the ground, and burrows under the dirt for a tasty snack.
Zach Lemon 2:51
The nymphs of cicadas will pierce the roots of plants, usually trees and suck fluid from the roots. They stay underground for at least a year. Most cicada species take three or four or five years living underground to develop.
Laine 3:07
Once the ground reaches a certain temperature, the nymph digs itself out of the dirt sheds its exoskeleton for the final time and takes to the sky. You can see some types of cicadas flying around every year. These frequent fliers are called annual cicadas because they come out annually. But some special cicadas like those in brood ten need more time underground. Scientists call these periodical cicadas because they only come out periodically, while billions of bugs emerging from the ground might seem a little bit scary, these friends can't harm you. Cicadas don't bite people, only plants. But these buzzing beauties might drive you a little bit batty. Cicadas are loud and proud. They're buzzing can get up to 100 decibels. That's louder than a motorcycle.
Zach Lemon 4:08
Cicadas are famous for singing. Males have structures on the underside of their body called timbles, and they can vibrate these timbles in such a way as to produce sound.
Laine Farber 4:19
Male cicadas chirp out these love songs to attract partners. And while their rhythms might not sound pleasant to human ears, they sure do make female cicadas swoon. So buckle up for a summer of cicada songs and get outside to explore these fascinating little critters.
Bethany Van Delft 4:41
The cicadas have a lot to catch up on. They haven't been here since 2004. So to get them up to speed, we put together a top five list of big things these incredible insects has missed these past 17 years. Number one, five presidential elections. Since then, the US has had some historic elections, including electing its first black president, President Obama, and now having the first female and woman of color vice president Kamala Harris, to ever be in office. Number two, the rise of social media. Back in 2004, Facebook had just started and was only available to college students. Twitter was founded in 2006. And tik tok wasn't even launched until 2018. Though cicadas better get posting content. Number three, all 23 Marvel movies. Grab the popcorn, the first movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that was released was Iron Man, and that was in 2008. These cicadas have a lot of bingeing to do. I'll catch you up cicada. Number four, the iPhone. Hello 2004 cicadas are probably still on their blackberries. Apple introduced the original iPhone in 2007. Who is going to teach these bugs to use a touchscreen. And number five, an entire pandemic, a plague of locusts on top of a pandemic.
A Kid 6:26
Are you kidding me?
Bethany Van Delft 6:27
Well, not quite. Look at some cicadas are two different insects. But Brood ten as this year's batches known missed most of the lockdown. And who can blame them? The last 17 years have brought a lot of changes and who knows what will happen when they come back in 2038. But for now, welcome back to the world cicadas. Stay away from my hair. Are there cicadas flying through your neighborhood? We want to see them, snap a picture or record their songs and send them to us at hello@thetennews.com. Here's some of the top headlines from around the globe. In a big step forward for transgender rights, the Biden administration announced that health care providers cannot discriminate against transgender people, meaning no matter how someone identifies, everyone gets the health care they need to go. The National Hockey League and the National Basketball leagues regular seasons are just days away from ending the NHL battle for the Stanley Cup and the NBA Finals will both happen later this summer. We'll keep you updated on which teams make it to the postseason. The newest vending machine in Rome, Italy isn't serving of soda or snacks, but slices of pizza. Just pick out your toppings and the machine cooks your meal in about three minutes. And as COVID-19 vaccines continue to roll out across the world, Romanians have a news site where they can get their vaccines in Dracula's castle. That's right, the 14th century castle that supposedly inspired the famous vampire novel has traded fangs for syringes. The country hopes the spooky setting will attract more people to get their shots. I mean, would it attract more people or keep more people away? Maybe grab a slice of extra garlicky pizza just to keep any lingering vampires away?
And now it's the...
Sound Bit 8:54
What, what, what's the big idea?
Bethany Van Delft 8:57
Trivia on The Ten. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California started preparing for wildfire season in an interesting way. What did they do? Was it A) spray layer of fire resistant foam all over the building? B) Built a temporary moat around the library, or C) called in a group of goats to clear the brush?
Did you guess it? The answer is C, they called in a group of goats. Last week the library hired 356 goats who are ready to chow down to help clear away vegetation. By doing this, it helps create what's called a fire break between the dry flammable brush and the building.
It's worked before. The library credits the goats eating habits with saving the bill. From wildfires in the past, so don't forget when there's wildfires in your neighborhood, who are you going to call brushcutters afraid to know goat. Time is up. But before we go, here's a quick note for the grownups. Thanks for listening to The Ten News. Look out for our new episodes on Tuesdays, Thursdays and extras on Saturdays. You can go deeper into today's stories by visiting thetennews.com. The Ten News is a co-production of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts and is distributed by iHeartRadio. The Ten's creative team is all a buzz and includes Kate Hill, Tracey Crooks, Pete Musto, Jenner Pascua, Stephen Tompkins, and Sarah Olender. Our production director is Jeremiah Tittle, and our executive producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan. Laine Farber contributed to today's episode. I'm Bethany Van Delft, and thanks for listening to The Ten News. One cicada, two cicada, three cicada, four, five cicada, six cicada, a billion cicadas, oh my gosh.
