Word: cicada
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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They're not locusts (which are a type of grasshopper), but for much of the Eastern U.S. this year, they're certainly a plague. Some cicadas appear almost every year, but the Brood X periodical cicada, as scientists call this variety , is the big one: the world's largest insect swarm. For the next five weeks, sidewalks will be littered with crunchy brown shells, ant treetops will be buzzing with an ear-splitting screech...
...Cicadas look scary with their vaguely devil-shaped heads, but they're really harmless, and some communities even look forward to their arrival. Cincinnati, Ohio, for example, is planning cicada festivals, parties and even meals. Gene Kritsky, a cicada expert, is testing out a new recipe this year, cicada chowder. But entomologist John Cooley, who studies cicadas at the University of Connecticut, won't touch it. "Seventeen years underground just to end up as someone's dinner?" he says. "They're too marvelous to waste...