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Article: Cicadas' Life Cycle Nears Roaring Finale; Insects Ending 17-Year Burial
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- May 3, 1987
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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For the past 17 years, countless millions of mysterious creatures
with five red eyes have been lurking underground, quietly waiting for
a moment that is about to arrive.
Over a vast region of the eastern United States, they are
beginning to sense the same signal-unknown to humans-that is
summoning them up from the depths and into the open air.
Not since the summer of 1970, when these creatures all went
underground, has any of them seen the light of day. Starting over
the next week or two, however, prodigious swarms of them will heed
the primal call and emerge for a brief few weeks in the sun.
This is the year and the season in which the largest brood of
17-year cicadas, often mistakenly ...