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A periodical cicada is seen in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Some are waiting for their arrival with trepidation, others are curious what they might taste like: Americans are swapping tips on how best to weather the storm when billions of cicadas emerge after 17 years underground.
Image Credit: AFP
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A cicada from Brood X clings to a flower in Falls Church, Virginia. Before invading parks and people's gardens, the insects have already conquered the airwaves, social media and newspapers, especially in parts of the eastern, central and southern United States where "Brood X" is due to emerge.
Image Credit: REUTERS
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A Magicicada periodical cicada shell is left clinging to a blade of grass after molting in Takoma Park, Maryland. Once soil temperatures reach about 64°F, billions and billions of these periodical cicadas will emerge in fifteen states and the District of Columbia.
Image Credit: AFP
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A recently emerged cicada is seen in Oakton. The cicadas will emerge, molt, mate, lay eggs and die within a matter of weeks.
Image Credit: Kevin Ambrose
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A bird uses its beak to thrash a periodical cicada in its newly molted tendrel stage before eating it in Takoma Park, Maryland. A high-protein source of food for birds, animals and other insects, the cicadas are emerging in the eastern United States and some Midwestern states after living underground and feeding off of tree roots for 17 years.
Image Credit: AFP
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A Magicicada periodical cicada rests on the arm of a child in Arlington, Virginia.
Image Credit: AFP
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An adult cicada emerges out of its shell, in Louisville, Kentucky.
Image Credit: REUTERS
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Cicadas make holes to come out of the ground, in Louisville, Kentucky.
Image Credit: REUTERS
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Lucy, a domesticated golden buff chicken eats a newly molted periodical cicada in the front yard of her owner Mark Verschell's home in Takoma Park, Maryland.
Image Credit: AFP
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A cluster of periodical cicadas in various forms of molting from nymph to adult cling to a leaf in Takoma Park, Maryland.
Image Credit: AFP
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A newly emerged adult cicada wriggles out of its shell, in Louisville, Kentucky.
Image Credit: REUTERS
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newly molted periodical cicada clings to a plant in Takoma Park, Maryland.
Image Credit: AFP
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A Magicicada periodical cicada begins to molt from its nymph state as it clings to the branch of a tree in Arlington, Virginia.
Image Credit: AFP
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A newly emerged adult cicada prepares itself to mate, in Louisville, Kentucky.
Image Credit: REUTERS
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Entomologist Michael Raupp looks at a cicada nymph shell on a tree at the University of Maryland campus in College Park.
Image Credit: REUTERS
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Newly emerged adult cicadas leave their shells attached to tree leaves after they wriggle out of them, in Louisville, Kentucky.
Image Credit: REUTERS
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A squirrel holds the body of a periodical cicada in its mouth while climbing a tree on the grounds of the US Capitol in Washington, DC.
Image Credit: AFP
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A cicada comes out of its shell, in Louisville, Kentucky.
Image Credit: REUTERS
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A nymph stage Brood X cicada is seen near a tree in Rock Creek park in Washington, DC.
Image Credit: REUTERS
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A newly emerged adult cicada dries its wings on a leaf in College Park, Maryland.
Image Credit: REUTERS
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A newly emerged adult cicada dries its wings on a tree, in Louisville, Kentucky.
Image Credit: REUTERS
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Newly emerged adult cicadas try to mate, in Louisville, Kentucky.
Image Credit: REUTERS