Well done Fuse...I was listening to CBC radio tonight, and they were talking about a type of cicada in Illinois that only emerges once every 17 years. They had a recording of these things, and they were deafening. Species of cicadas are divided into broods:
"The northern Illinois brood, which will emerge in late May 2007, has a reputation for the largest emergence of cicadas known anywhere."
In the tradition of AnswerPool providing helpful information on any topic, I offer the following:
Periodical cicadas are also edible. Native Americans utilized them in their diet. In 1990, several college students were filmed eating them alive. When asked what they tasted like, the students reported that they tasted like almonds. Drying them in a microwave oven carefully causes them to release an almond smell.
Soft-Shelled Cicadas
1 cup Worcestershire sauce 30 freshly emerged 17-year cicadas 2 eggs, beaten 1.5 cups flour Salt and pepper (to season the flour) 0.5 cup corn oil or slightly salted butter
Marinate cicadas in Worcestershire sauce for several hours. Dip them in the beaten egg, roll them in the seasoned flour and then gently saute until they are golden brown. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ El Chirper Tacos
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter or peanut oil
1/2 pound newly emerged cicadas
2 serrano chilies, raw, finely chopped
1 tomato, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp ground pepper or to taste
1/2 tsp cumin
3 tsp taco seasoning mix
1 handful cilantro, chopped
Taco shells, to serve
Sour cream
Shredded cheddar cheese
Shredded lettuce
Directions
1. Heat the butter or oil in a frying pan and fry the cicadas for 10 minuts, or until cooked through.
2. Remove from pan and roughly chop into 1/4-inch cubes/ Place back in pan.
3. Add the chopped onions, chilies and tomato, season with salt, and fry for another 5 minutes on medium-low heat.
4. Sprinkle with ground pepper, cumin and oregano to taste.
5. Serve in taco shells and garnish with cilantro, sour cream, lettuce and cheddar cheese. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cicada Rhubarb Pie
Ingredients:
4 cups chopped rhubarb
1 cup fresh cicadas, washed and any hard parts removed
1 1/3 cups white sugar
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon butter
1 recipe pastry for a 9-inch double crust pie
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Combine sugar and flour. Sprinkle one-fourth of it over pastry in pie plate. Heap rhubarb over this mixture. Sprinkle cicadas in amongst the rhubarb. Sprinkle with remaining sugar and flour. Dot with small pieces of butter. Cover with top crust.
3. Place pie on lowest rack in oven. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and continue baking for 40 to 45 minutes.
Yield:
Makes 1 pie (8 servings) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ***Disclaimer: AnswerPool.com does not advocate eating cicadas without first consulting with your doctor. While many people do eat cicadas, there is no guarantee that they are safe for every person to eat. As with all foods, it is possible that certain individuals, will have allergic reactions to substances within the cicada.***
"I am relocating this post to the Answerpool.com Recipe Book, where I believe it will get more of the quality answers it deserves"
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Sailracer,
Posts: 16980 | Location: Lincoln Place, Granite City, IL, USA | Registered: 06-03-02
Not just any cicadas -- it's BROOD XIII. "17-year locusts."
quote:
In late May 2007, billions of periodical cicadas from Brood XIII will emerge from the ground throughout northern Illinois and parts of neighboring states.
I don't remember seeing them as a little kid -- as I must have -- in 1956. By 1973 I was an avid insect collector and added many prime specimens to the Homoptera section. In 1990 I visited Chicago just in time to hear those bizarre sounds again.
It so happens I was in Chicago last week ("late May") -- I packed a collecting jar just in case -- and saw nary a Magicicada. I'll just have to mark my calendar for 2024.
Posts: 1955 | Location: U.S. | Registered: 06-03-02
Ever wonder why periodic cicadas have only 13- and 17-year cycles?
From Science News - June 21, 2003; Vol. 163, No. 25:
quote:
The fact that periodical cicadas emerge after a prime number of years could be just a coincidence. Or it might reflect some sort of evolutionary pressure that leads to prime-number cycles.
If periodical cicadas had 12-year life cycles, all predators with 2-, 3-, 4-, or 6-year cycles would get a chance to eat them, potentially wiping out an entire population. With prime-number cycles, the chances of predator and prey coinciding would be much less.
A few years ago, Mario Markus of the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Physiology in Dortmund, Germany, and his coworkers decided to see whether such prime-number cycles could come out of a simple evolutionary mathematical model of interactions between predator and prey.
The researchers observed that, in their simulations, a sequence of mutations would eventually lock the cicadas (prey) into a stable prime-number cycle.
The fact that a simple predator-prey mathematical model leads to prime-number cycles, however, doesn't really explain why periodical cicadas have 13- or 17-year cycles. For one thing, no one has yet identified predators or parasites that would fit the bill biologically. Moreover, the model says nothing about why many species have cycles that are not prime numbers.
According to David Marshall, an evolutionary biologist and cicada expert at the U. Conn.:[quote]The fact that 17 and 13 are primes reduces the chances of interbreeding among different populations of 17- and 13-year cicadas...
By evolving to stay underground as long as possible, some experts say, cicadas reduced their chances of emerging during a particularly cold summer.
In one study, researchers from Tennessee and Arkansas looked at what would happen if there were one dangerously cold summer every 50 years for 1,500 years. Their mathematical model showed that cicadas with a life cycle of 7 years had only an 8-percent chance of surviving. With an 11-year cycle, survival jumped to 51 percent. At 17 years, cicadas had a 96-percent chance of living.
G.F. Webb Department of Mathematics Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN 37340
Abstract. Mathematical models are presented to argue for the significance of prime number emergences of 13 year and 17 year periodical cicadas (Magicicada spp.). The prime number values arise as resonances of emergences with 2 and 3 year quasi-cycling predators. Predators with 2 and 3 year quasi-cycles are present due to their age dependent fecundity and mortality rates. Their quasi-cycles are enhanced by the predation of cicadas during emergences and thus exert significant influence on the cicada periodic life cycles.
I have no idea what a quasi-cycle is -- downloading the whole article requires a $2100 online subscription -- but it seems like an interesting topic.
The recipes for cooked cicadas, on the other hand, make me quasi-queasy.
Posts: 1955 | Location: U.S. | Registered: 06-03-02
I'll just have to mark my calendar for 2024.
-- but it seems like an interesting topic. 
