Cicadas are Coming

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So almost old enough to vote?
I highly doubt they'll make it to voting age... And with the way 2020 is shaping up, they might just decide to stay in hiding.

Really though, cicadas are annual here in China, and they're frequently on people's plates as grubs. They look like little tubers, right up until they move. I haven't eaten any (in grub, or other forms). However, I can attest that grasshoppers taste like potato chips when deep fried.

I'm looking forward to catching some this summer and watching them emerge in the adult form. From last year's experience, I've learned not to touch the wings until they've fully hardened, and to give it plenty of room for its wings to unfold completely. I released them the day after they emerged.
 
Not having been raised in a culture where eating insects is a normal thing, I can’t imagine myself ever being willing to go there, at least if the insects are in any way identifiable. Cricket flour..... maybe.
 
Finally some kind of action. I was getting bored with so little happening in the news lately 🙄. Anyway, if anyone else has been wondering the same question, here's an answer to what eats cicadas 👨‍🍳 (not me though, I'm quite happy with fruit, nuts, and the occasional steak).
 
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When I was a kid, we raised a duck and fed him cicadas. Does it count as eating the insects after we cooked the duck?
 
Not having been raised in a culture where eating insects is a normal thing, I can’t imagine myself ever being willing to go there, at least if the insects are in any way identifiable. Cricket flour..... maybe.

There was a guy with a booth at the World Scout Jamboree last year proclaiming the virtues of eating crickets, letting people sample several flavors, and giving away samples of what you selected as your "favorite." From that, I have a test tube of bubble gum flavored crickets in my desk drawer at a work. I have no idea what I am going to do with them other than occasionally offer them as a joke. Even my "favorite", while edible and tolerable, wasn't something I'd look for when I wanted a snack. Then again, it was good enough that you could probably mix it in with trail mix, or gorp, or something without too many people even noticing (until someone found an identifiable body part :) ).
 
There was a guy with a booth at the World Scout Jamboree last year proclaiming the virtues of eating crickets, letting people sample several flavors, and giving away samples of what you selected as your "favorite." From that, I have a test tube of bubble gum flavored crickets in my desk drawer at a work. I have no idea what I am going to do with them other than occasionally offer them as a joke. Even my "favorite", while edible and tolerable, wasn't something I'd look for when I wanted a snack. Then again, it was good enough that you could probably mix it in with trail mix, or gorp, or something without too many people even noticing (until someone found an identifiable body part :) ).

I totally avoided "grasshopper mint" for years, because I just didn't know.
 
There was a major emergence a year or two before I moved from Chicago ('89 to '91 time frame). There was so many out that you couldn't walk without stepping on several with each step. Every tree was lined with them or the empty shells that they left when going from grub to flying insect. And they were deafeningly loud. I'm surprised there wasn't a massive die off of insect eating birds from over-eating.
 
There was a major emergence a year or two before I moved from Chicago ('89 to '91 time frame). There was so many out that you couldn't walk without stepping on several with each step. Every tree was lined with them or the empty shells that they left when going from grub to flying insect. And they were deafeningly loud. I'm surprised there wasn't a massive die off of insect eating birds from over-eating.
Yep, living in Hinsdale/Burr Ridge area at the time. Worst outbreak I have seen.
 
Put insects into stir fry. Plenty of garlic and chile garlic paste takes care of any reserve issues.
 
I have eaten witchety grubs here in Australia. Once the grubs are pan fried they have the consistency and taste of mashed potato, with a slight hint of almond. Quite edible! Top it off with a handful of green ants for desert and it is not a bad meal.

This thread has gone in an entirely unpredicted direction! :rolleyes:
 
It is funny how the cicadas bury down in the ground and attach themselves to the roots of the host tree
and live off of the sap for 7 years

They make great fish bait to !
 
Along with the emergence of Cicadas you will start seeing these little bugers...
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My favorite memory of cicadas is from my childhood. I'd go out in the backyard in the evenings with my aluminum baseball bat when they started up their noise, find one on a tree trunk within range, sneak up on it and WHAM! Smack that little booger into oblivion! Hated those things, and still do!!!
 
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