Did you ever hunt for these as a kid...or as an adult?

[raccoon]

I did!

[marzipanni]

1. I usually tried to see what was in the trees making that noise!

Several years ago I found an exoskeketon on my mom's garage when my son and I were visiting, so we got to inspect it.

We used to keep an eye out for Monarch butterfly crysalides (just looked up plural of chrysalis) on milkweed.
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http://www.scienceprojectlab.com/monarch-butterfly.html&usg=__cDcBVrrybkKs62Ak0ArbO6fJCsQ=&h=445&w=400&sz=23&hl=en&start=22&tbnid=nsF30SaJV_SZbM:&tbnh=127&tbnw=114&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmonarch%2Bchrysalis%2Bon%2Bmilkweed%26start%3D20%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN%26gbv%3D1%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1

[Old Troop]

2. What are they? Obviously I didn't.

[raccoon]

9. Cicada shell. The cicada come from underground and sheds its exoskeleton. nt

[Gold Metal Flake]

3. Cicadas come out every year in Houston.

We used to collect shells, catch the newly emerged and watch them shed their shells. We would hold the shelled cidadas and blow on their wings to help them firm up and watch them fly out of our hands. We don't have cicadas in SoCal. I miss them.

[rrneck]

4. Tripped over plenty of them. nt

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. No; I preferred to avoid them rather than hunt for them.

Eww.

[carlyhippy]

6. nooo, I always checked the tree trunk before I put my hands on it

They are so gross. I was always afraid one would land in my hair, yes I am a GIRL.

I really do not miss the cicadas, I do however miss the noise they made. Nothing says a hot summer afternoon and evening like cidadas buzzing.

[InvisibleTouch]

7. Oh yeah!

There's something especially cool about a perfectly-shed exoskeleton that preserves even the finest details, right down to the bristles. I will still pick these up if I find an intact one.

[MiddleFingerMom]

8. I found them to be...

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....crunchy, yet gooey.
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And they helped keep my teeth DAZZLING white!!!
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[Maine-ah]

10. is that what makes the really loud buzzing in the woods

during the hot humid days? I've never seen one.

[raccoon]

13. They do, and katydids do too. Depends on the sound you're hearing. nt

[Maine-ah]

16. goes from a very loud buzz and then fades out

then it starts all over again. I've lived in New England my whole life, but I've only ever heard them, never seen one.

[raccoon]

17. Now that sounds like a cicada. Sometimes their singing reaches a crescendo and then fades out.

Remember Sally Field picking cotton in PLACES IN THE HEART? The cicadas were singing then.

[Maine-ah]

19. check this out!

http://www.cicadamania.com/cicadas/

edit heres the link for the one I'm hearing

http://www.musicofnature.com/songsofinsects/iframes/cicadas/popup_tibicann.html

[raccoon]

20. The one you're hearing sounds like the one I've heard, except the one I've

heard usually is: Chi-chi-chi-chi-chi (i.e., choppier than the one at that link.

I wonder if bugs have regional accents? I've heard birds do.

Seriously, maybe there are subspecies? The cicadas I saw in NM looked different than the ones in SC.

[dropkickpa]

11. Dropkid had a huge collection of them

Until the dog ate them. Hoo-boy was she pissed!

[raccoon]

12. Scary pic! nt

[Arkansas Granny]

14. Yes. A few times we would find one crawling on the ground. You can

put them in a a jar with something they can get a grip on (like a piece of wood with the bark still on or a dry corn cob) and watch them shed the shell. It's really amazing. The shell splits down the back and the cicada works itself out in a way that almost resembles giving birth. After they get their wings fully extended and dry, you can't believe that all that insect fit into that little shell. We did this when I was a kid and I was able to do the same for my kids. Of course, we always released it after it was dry.

[raccoon]

15. Man, how neat. I never saw one shed its shell. nt

[hedgehog]

18. I heard my first of the season this morning, and can hear one right now.

[raccoon]

21. I'm surprised to hear from some folks so far north--NY, for instance.

But I bet cicadas can't live where there's permafrost.

[OwnedByFerrets]

22. Found one outside, by the backdoor two days ago. Loved

finding them as a child. We always called them locusts. Yes, Im backwoods. LOL

[av8rdave]

23. I did

You could pull the shell off of the tree and it would grip whatever you wanted to put it on. Shirt, hair, etc.

Great fun when you're a kid.

[Liberal_in_LA]

24. what an ugly nasty looking thing.

[LeftinOH]

25. I used to "hook" them on other peoples' clothes; the reponse was always

one of two things- sheer bloody terror, or "oh, look- a cicada shell".

[pokerfan]

26. animation of Cicada molting