billions of periodical cicadas emerging out of the earth and overtaking the eastern united states. the rare spectacle has americans in awe. it was deafening, really deafening... the grants have lived here for decades, and like clockwork, the brood x cicadas have arrived at the same time every 17 years to mate. it can get so loud that some of theirfriends have mistaken the male insects�* droning song for a police siren. because of my hearing disadvantages, i don't put my hearing aids when i come out in the garden. otherwise i get the whole sound magnified. the mass emergence and its timing is all part of a clever survival strategy to evade predators. then the metamorphosis from nymph to adult happens relatively quickly. so, here we have a fully grown female that�*s now ready to mate and lay her eggs.