PICAYUNE — My whole life could have spun by without me ever having had a chance to witness the incredible sight experienced last week. But after the few brief minutes spent seated on the ground, peering up at a bizarre little creature hanging underneath a twig, my life was permanently transformed.

The critter was attached to the branch of a camellia belonging to Arboretum volunteer Melinda Tucker. We might have passed him by, but the camellia was a young one without the dense growth found on more mature specimens, and the color of the newly emerged insect caused him to stand out on the twig. I stared, and he stared back. Coincidentally, only a few minutes ago, on this incredibly sultry and oppressively hot Mississippi summer afternoon, I had remarked on the loud hum of cicadas pulsing through Melinda’s yard. As such days are termed the “dog days of summer,” I suppose it was only fitting we had found a dog-day cicada.

All my life, the husks of these insects have caught my eye. On summer vacations spent playing outdoors, the exoskeletons were commonly found hanging on tree and shrub branches, or clutching the bark of a tree. Perhaps, like me, you enjoyed relocating these strange structures to your shirt, or maybe to the hair of an unsuspecting friend. Years later, I learned that the insects that had molted from these husks were large, stout insects called cicadas, the ones responsible for the droning beat we equate with hot summer evenings.

The cicada we saw was probably the “annual” species with the genus name Tibicen, known as a “dog-day” cicada. These insects appear in late summer, every 2 to 5 years, as opposed to “periodic” cicadas which complete their life cycle every 17 years. The genus of this type is called Magicicada. What a perfect name!

Female cicadas will pierce the stems of twigs with their sharp ovipositors and insert their eggs, which hatch in about 7 weeks into small nymphs. The nymphs drop to the ground and burrow into the soil, where they will seek out tree roots and use their sucking mouth parts to drink the plant “juices”. They will stay in the ground for quite a while, going through several stages, called “instars”, and sometimes burying down as deep as a foot or more.

When the nymph is fully developed, it crawls to the surface of the soil and seek out a low branch on which it will molt, splitting its exoskeleton down the back. After emerging, they live for about 5 to 6 weeks. During this time they are completely focused on mating. The “songs” you hear in the summer nights are from the male cicadas calling to females. Females do not sing.

Enter the keywords “cicada molting” into an Internet search engine and you will find yourself immersed in the insect’s strange new world. See the incredible neon green of the insect’s new wings, watch a video of its molting process, and locate the photo of a person who has fashioned a helmet from the insects’ husks.

A day after my cicada encounter, we received a call from Dr. John Guyton about the Arboretum’s upcoming September Bugfest event. Dr. Guyton is a professor with the Mississippi State University’s Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology, and Plant Pathology, and is known for his summer “bug camps” that draw students from across the country to the MSU campus. When I told him about my experience, he asked if I had stuck around to watch the insect emerge, which I was not able to do. Had I waited, he said, in perhaps a half hour, I would have seen the tiny nubs at the creature’s side unfold into transparent, veined wings. I later located a video on the Web of the insect molting, to complete the process.

The stage I had observed, Dr. Guyton continued, is the ideal time to collect the insects if you wish to eat them. Yes, you heard that right. He went on to admit that he has done just that, and the practice is apparently much more common among entomologists than you might think. Cicadas can be stir-fried in a little oil, he says, but they are rather bland, unless one adds some flavoring such as soy sauce. Now, if you were a fish, a golden orb weaver spider, a snake, or a wild turkey, you might get a bit more excited about the idea of consuming these critters. I regret telling you that your dog or cat may have feasted many times on cicadas without you even knowing it. For the more daring, you can find some interesting images with the keyword search, “eating cicadas”.

Update: At the end of last week, I heard from Melinda that she now has a mockingbird that is “mocking” the sounds of her cicadas.

Two August programs will offer opportunities to explore nature. A children’s field walk and clay class will be held Saturday, August 11th from 10 to 11:30 a.m., using self-hardening clay. Cost to members children is $5, and $7 for non-members’ children. Join us for a summer field walk on Saturday, August 25 from 10 to 11a.m. to learn how to identify native plants and how to use them in your home landscape. The walk is free to members and $5 to non-members.

Reserve your space for these upcoming programs by calling the Arboretum office at (601) 799-2311. For more information visit our website at www.crosbyarboretum.msstate.edu.

We are open Wednesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and are located in Picayune, off I-59 Exit 4, at 370 Ridge Road (south of Walmart and adjacent to I-59).

For further exploration:

Read more about the life cycle of 17 year locusts (cicadas), and their predators. Research the mechanics behind how they produce their “call.”

How is it different from the method that crickets use to create their sound?