Not Another Cidada Post!

It begins.

When I finished that tricky roofwork last weekend, I was hot and dirty so I stretched out on the porch floor to cool off. I laid there for a few minutes until the dogs came around the corner and discovered me at their level.

It was a little too slobbery to stay prone, so I sat up. That is when I saw this cicada nymph creeping across the cement pad at the foot of the steps.

Serendipity!

I caught it and placed it on a stick. It immediately climbed to the top. It seemed to be attaching itself with some fine silky thread by waving it's front legs in a weavery way.

I went about my remaining yardwork, but kept checking for progress.

About 15 minutes later.

A few minutes go by and the wings are unfolding and beginning to expand.

About 30 minutes after it began, an adult Cicada waits for her wings to dry before joining the constantly droning hordes in the oaks of Pure Florida.

Behind the scenes.

Getting these shots involved knowing a little bit about my "prey". It's just like hunting or fishing, if you know your prey's habits, you will be more successful.

In this case, I knew that a cicada nymph above ground is only there for one reason and that is to molt into the adult form.

So, I scooped it up, found an appropriate stick, and clamped it to the same sawhorses I was using to stain the bifold closet doors. When the stick was secured, I simply held the cicada nymph up to the stick and she did the rest.

I just had to stop by every few minutes and take the pictures.

She really did most of the work.

We don't have the mass cicada events that folks up north have been having, ours always seem to be here, but we are not inundated with them.

I had been ignoring cicadas as post material, but I thought you might like this little sequence.

Now, I'm off to the Megalodon exhibit with my beautiful daughter, Emma.