Why are people so obsessed with cicadas?

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This video was originally posted to my personal channel (@EmilyGraslie on August 3, 2021, with the following description:
I recently packed my bags and ran off to Indiana to go see one of the greatest natural phenomena on our planet: the emergence of the 17-year Brood X Cicadas, an event I'd been waiting for since, well, 2004. Along the way I learned some surprising things about cicadas' long history as art influencers. WILD.
Human fascination with cicadas dates back THOUSANDS of years. I mean, I totally get it: they're loud, weird, buzzy insects that seemingly show up out of nowhere in massive numbers, make a ruckus and disappear almost as quickly as they arrived.The biology and life history of these buzzy buddies has inspired poets and artists for millennia! Thinking of stuff like this -- like how my interest in bugs might connect me with long-dead people and far-flung places -- helps me make sense of the world and my place within it.
Creator, Host, Writer, Producer: Emily Graslie
Editor and Motion Designer: Kelly Kitagawa
Additional Edits: Carolyn Yao
Production Manager: Laura Chernikoff
Production Assistance: Emmi Mueller
Accessibility support, captions, and audio description by DCMP (dcmp.org):
Captioning: Rebecca Phelps
Captioning QC: Rick Goldman
Audio Description Scripting: Valerie Hunter
Audio Description Voicer: Debbie Grattan
Audio Description Editor: Heather Warren
Accessibility Supervisor: Kyle Sisk

[@mikmak12711]

We missed you so much, Emily! 😭

[@Octa9on]

THIS SO MUCH!

[@thebrainscoop]

I miss you, too!!!

[@taylortracy8513]

So so much 😭😭

[@theograice8080]

Ngl, having THE Emily Graslie on my screen brings me inspiration I had forgotten. Thank you so much for all you do, Emily! (edit: *got>for)

[@catarinabarbosa2247]

your videos got me into museum work and I'm a paleontologist now!!

[@MossyMozart]

@catarinabarbosa2247 - Congratulations! And Merry Holidays!!

[@Oberon4278]

How often do you get to say, "It BELONGS in a MUSEUM"? Hopefully at least once a month.

[@DanielSolis]

It's just wild to know so many of these cicada babies lurk underground all the time.

[@grace5991]

i started watching the brain scoop in middle school and fell in love with museum education. I am now an educator at an aquarium! Thank you for your help in getting here!!

[@michaelbushee3968]

Fun fact: part of why the "song" of a cicada is so loud is because part of their abdomen is rigid and hollow, turning part of the cicada's body into a sound box, like on a guitar or violin. Which is both cool and also kinda terrifying, in its own way.

[@Sandvich18]

most things are temporary, but Emily's smile is eternal

[@LordDragox412]

10:30 **distant scrams of terror** Meanwhile Emily: :D

[@thedoctordebbienahar]

One of the most incredible things I have ever experienced was going to the woods just before dusk when this brood was emerging. If you stood still and listened you could hear just a crazy amount of quiet skittering as they emerged from underneath the leaf litter. It was so cool!

[@Mordalon]

When it comes to Cicadas and Asian art I can't help but think of the ubiquity of their sounds in anime when representing the summer time. I recall Neon Genesis Evangelion uses the sound constantly. There's also the Pokemon Nincada which evolves both into the flying Ninjask while also leaving behind it's shell in the form of Shedinja the Ghost/Bug pokemon which literally has a single hit point.

[@paleoph6168]

The cicada sounds in NGE are just 👌

[@call-me-pigeon]

Idk where Emily is based now, but if she is still in thr Chicago area, it would be dope to get an episode on the Insect Asylum!! Lots of cool specimines AND a possum named Hazel!!!

[@thebrainscoop]

ooooh you don't have to tell me twice!!

[@MmmVomit]

@@thebrainscoop And, it looks like brood XIII will be popping off in the Chicago area in 2024.

[@justinove7521]

@@thebrainscoop Idk where Emily is based now, but if she is still in thr Chicago area, it would be dope to get an episode on the Insect Asylum!! Lots of cool specimines AND a possum named Hazel!!! 🤪

[@hazelhumphreys9512]

Hi, my name is Hazel and I too am a weird little trash gremlin. I absolutely need to know more about this possum thankyouplease. 🖤

[@challalla]

Cicadas are also a favourite subject in origami. I remember seeing a video that showcased origami cicadas in increasing levels of complexity, and these creations are seriously impressive.

[@budbert69]

Cicadas come out over Christmas in Australia, so are in many Christmas songs. Also there are many slang names for different types of Cicadas in Australia, like Green Grocer,. Blue Moon, Masked Devil, and Floury Baker.

[@clarissajones7699]

I am sending this to the next person in a poetry workshop who says I have cicadas in 'too many poems.'

[@thebrainscoop]

it's impossible to have too many poems with cicadas, you can cite me on that

[@sarahleonard7309]

I remember a few years ago when we had an emergence here. My family and I weren't really paying much attention. But when we visited a local zoo we quickly realized that the entire massive lawn leading up to the front gate was completely covered in cicadas crawling towards the trees. There must have been thousands of them just in that one place!

[@NinjaFalllow]

I would cry. Omg.

[@sophiafern]

The Pizza John shirt really ties this welcome back all together. Welcome back Emily! I missed your stuff so much 😭

[@Alobster1]

It's so good to see you back. It feels like an old friend is back to visit, hopefully to stay. I've never witnessed a large cicada brood emerging so this was great. The ones we have in western Kansas don't seem to have much of a spawning pattern and they look quite different.

[@alanmctaggart4371]

Even in the small number of videos you released during your hiatus, I could still tell you never lost your science communication chops. The World is a better place with you releasing videos, and that's a fact.

[@linden4372]

I for one am definitely obsessed with cicadas! Those 2021 brood X cicadas came out around my university as I was graduating, so that’s a special memory for me, as noisy and overwhelming as they were, all over campus, all over town, and all over the hiking trails I frequented. I even had to keep them out of the donut shop I worked at.

[@joanhoffman3702]

Good thing they can’t eat anything!

[@osmia]

My brain is running around in circles trying to imagine all the things that you're going to show us on this rebooted Channel

[@owencardona5185]

I love Emily’s content so much. Been watching this show ever since the wolf dissection video haha. So happy to see how it has changed over the years, as have I. It scratches that curiosity itch I can only scratch with a…well, with a brain scoop

[@AdahliaBiPunk]

Welcome back Emily!! We missed you so much!! Looking forward to everything you do here :)

[@nectarina3891]

I love your art lab videos! and so happy to have you back on The Brain Scoop!!!!!! it still has brains on it.

[@conmckfly]

I thought that was what she said.....!

[@williamperry1433]

I miss your videos so much. So happy to see you return.

[@thebrainscoop]

I'm so happy to be here!!

[@mysteriousdruid4947]

It is such a pleasure that you are back.

[@ArrowOfTruth01]

I'm so flipping excited you're back Emily!

[@dis3545]

It's so good to see your face again Emily and feel your enthusiasm, half across the world (hello from Iceland. You have several fans here 😁 )

[@tarekmohamed3263]

not just Science but History as well, it couldn't be more brilliant.

[@cpoco]

So good to see you back. We grew up with yearly Cicada "symphonies" but at some point they seemed to stop (or it could be they weren't in the areas I moved to. Early this year though I came across those familiar shells and a smile crossed my face. We never had them in the numbers you showed though (not sure if that's because we're in Australia?).

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

"The distant screaming of those who are less excited" had me rolling. I gotta go watch OG brain scoop!

[@paulkinzer7661]

I love cicadas, even after I was made aware of an emergence once right in the middle of painting a house. I stopped, but for some it was too late; poor things! I can't wait to see what you have coming up for us!

[@Cynthia63636]

Oh god that sounds like a nightmare

[@paulkinzer7661]

@@Cynthia63636It was not great!

[@arjovenzia]

Your cicadas are special for their rarity, for me in SW Oz, it's a timing thing. Peak cicada is around Christmas. Presents in the morning, massive lunch, about 2pm every one has a bit of quiet time for a nap or read your new book or whatever. And the soundtrack for that exceptional slice of the year is a cacophony of cicadas.

[@DamianVillasenor]

I began seeing your videos with soon racoon back when I was a bachelor, now I'm going to begin my PhD in tropical entomology. Your videos were a BIG FACTOR in keeping me in this biological path. Thanks Emily, you're such a radiant star!

[@DaveTpletsch]

OMG. This just popped up and I had to click right away! I"M SO EXCITED FOR A NEW BRAINSCOOP VIDEO!

[@MexicanHobbit]

Love the Pizza John cameo! So glad to see you back!

[@StarSong936]

Welcome back. I'll just say the cats enjoy the cicadas more than I do since they eat them. There was one time someone asked me about a hole in the ground I was looking at. So I told them what I knew about the cicadas lifecycle and that I had seen the cicada that made that hole. Interesting insects, but the noise can be a little distracting when you are trying to sleep. There are times when you can find their exoskeletons all over the trees, on your house, and on picnic tables when they emerge in the spring and summer.

[@thelonewolfspirit]

I go to the southern area of Massachusetts frequently, and was always shocked to see cicada shells, since at my home to the north we really don't have them around despite being less than 100 miles away. The map you showed finally solves that question for me! Looks like just a small portion of southern mass has a cicada population, so I am very lucky to have seen them at all!

[@whitehorsept]

I am personally not a big fan of insects, am even allergic to them unfortunately. But your genuine enthusiasm is really awesome, which made me watch the full thing. :) Welcome back! Looking forward to more of your videos. :)

[@censusgary]

I’m so happy it still has brains on it! I love cicadas. Ours in Texas don’t have a 17- or 13-year cycle; they emerge every year during the hottest part of summer. They look like big jewels, bright pearly white and emerald green, with clear wings overlaid with black lace. I love their loud, loud song. To me, it’s the sound of summer heat. 🪰

[@LiminalLegion]

I'm so happy you're back! I missed hearing you enthusiastically teach us about so many neat things. Your smile and excitement when you talk about things makes me so excited to learn things with you

[@lightbox617]

Remember May flies? On Skaneateles lake in Northern NY, every spring My grandparents lake house changed color from yellow to ,,,,well,,,Mayfly. It lasted a day or two but was a memorable event. As I lived in Illinois, on the NorthWest side of Chicago, I watched the twice annual migration of Starlings. Swarms of birds that looked like clouds in the skies. In the late 1990, I was in bergen Co , NJ for a mass hatch of 17 year Cicadas. I collected dozens of Nymphy shell and wings that birds di not eat. Together with living Cicadas, a great photo project. I live in Newark , NJ now and find that all of this , all of the flocks and swarms and hatches are gone from here. I miss it all

[@TheShadow402]

I just saw this. Boy, you were missed! Your energy and smile can make anyone happy.

[@lisawelsh9359]

Thank you SO MUCH for bringing us "thebrainscoop" and for bringing it back. I love how you merge nature, art, and history in this episode. I'm excitedly waiting to see where you take the new Brainscoop!!

[@ARTiculations]

Ooooo I have very fond childhood memories of loud cicada sounds every summer growing up in China. Had no idea about the national obsession about them despite being from there lol. Totally gonna read more about them now. Also can't wait for new Brain Scoop content!!! Hope you have a great holiday season Emily!

[@willisfouts4838]

Accurate map. Here in East Tennessee, the last emergence was 2008. The red eyed variety. As we live in the deep woods, there were millions and millions. By the end of it all, everything had had their fill. You could here animals regurgitating in the woods, daily. You’d see piles of half chewed cicada everywhere. Even the fish stopped biting them, as bait, lol.

[@brianbuch1]

Are there studies on the effect the cicadas during their underground phase have upon the forest ecology? Glad to have you back again!

[@harrisoctavius]

I was so excited about the relaunch of the channel that I had to message my friend and promptly forgot to comment (I think). These cicadas are amazing :D

[@SomeoneBeginingWithI]

I was subscribed to the brain scoop right from the start and I had no idea this video existed, thank you for reuploading it here!

[@Domdrok]

I live in brood V (2016) territory. It was a bad year for a number of reasons, as you can imagine. I basically didn't go outside the whole time.

[@bw4708]

I’m guessing I’m repeating what everyone else has said but I’ll say it again for the sake of the algorithm - fantastic to have you back! Very excited to see where this channel goes from here!

[@Subscriberfromwayback]

I was just changing my channel alerts and wondered how the brain scoop was going. You're back!!! Omg yay!!!

[@LLAAPPSSEE]

Cicadas are just cool, chunky, weird summer-time anime noise bugs. I've used them in my music as a "shaker" kinda sound before.

[@Laurasiana]

Yay! You’re back! And now I’m going to look up a cicada brood map to find the next emergence in my region. X was too far from here, alas.

[@rickseiden1]

So glad you're back! Love your videos!

[@MakerFishmeal]

I'm so happy you're back 😭 Congratulations!!

[@R.Instro]

11:15 - Man, the sound of those old-school phasers going into overload....

[@moviemaestro800]

That scream of terror in the distance shouldn't have made me chuckle like it did. 😂

[@laurab.7260]

Great video! im so excited this channel is back!!!

[@rosieblankenship]

It's so cool to see you at IU! I worked at a campus near there when brood x emerged in 2004 and it became a sort of bug tourist destination. I was excited to see them again in 2021. Not so excited about them crawling up my face, but the noise and the sheer numbers are hard to describe. It's a fascinating phenomenon! Glad to see you back on YT!

[@joelspitsnaugle]

woah, I just searched to see what you were up to a week ago to see if there was a new project, so glad to see this get picked back up! love the content and presentation!

[@Leo_Lionhart]

My first thought was death and reborn. But they are not reborn. I don’t get that. Sometimes their deaths are fascinating. The corpse is nowhere near a tree, the body is intact, no ants is taking its body apart, no insect is eating its corpse. And I never get to finish my episode of CSI: Insects. The murder/death of the cicada is never solved.

[@shannonsteven808]

Im so glad youre posting again!

[@GermanSausagesAreTheWurst]

I was just a little bit outside of brood X even though the map said we were in it. I'm hoping we get brood XIII when it gets here. I know we get one of them because I've been around them before.

[@emc2beans]

I've been lucky enough to see two emergences of Brood X and it was very heartening to see other people as excited as I was for the 2021 emergence. Here's to the next one, 2038 here we come!

[@jesse6198]

i missed this!!!

[@SullenEchoes]

Emily! I missed your videos so much! I'm so glad to see you back.

[@talanigreywolf7110]

I hadn't realized how much I missed that closing line "It still has brains on it", until I just heard it now!

[@chrisisteas]

I remember watching this the first time and rewatching it a few times with friends. This video is great and I don't mind rewatching this. Thanks Emily for your wonderful work.

[@dingaia]

never thought i'd be moved by an ancient poem about cicadas

[@shutterbug1076]

I'm so glad you're back!!!

[@gonzalo-ortiz]

I was thinking a couple of days ago, wishing to see your first video, and is hereeee!! So happy to see you back, Emily! 🥳🎆

[@alonsow8053]

Yay Emily’s back! Cant wait to see what’s in store for the future!

[@kaylinevans]

I am so glad you are back!

[@antonio.juanfdez]

I love this videos so much, it's great to see this kind of effort in youtube

[@konstantinbreen]

I'm happy you are back. You are really freaking cool. Love you're science work!

[@alfthai]

Welcome back! So glad I never unsubscribed from this!

[@JH-lz4dh]

Great video! It brought back good memories of the 2021 emergence 😁

[@CDyan]

I hadn't realized how much I had missed your videos. But your enthusiasm and science nerdyness is such a sunshine ray in my day !

[@KristenCanada1756]

Couldn't be more pumped for you to return to this channel!

[@IndyJay53]

Just as good the second time. Glad to have you back!

[@TheLuluTrue]

We don’t have cicadas in Germany (I think). At least I’ve never seen a cicada before so this video has been super interesting to me. I’ve always wondered why there are so many cicadas in literature and music but it makes so much sense now.

[@exploderen]

I love cicadas, I love that you're back, and I love that Pizza John shirt

[@thebrainscoop]

I went to art school with David Miles Lusk, who designed it!! We took printmaking classes together. His prints are gorgeous: anomalpress.com/

[@exploderen]

@@thebrainscoop omg his work is so gorgeous, ty for dropping the link! 💜

[@alex4alexn]

Best decision bring the brain scoop back, Emily is the best

[@earthlingsartist]

Omg!! I'm so happy to see you! Welcome back!

[@rainydaylady6596]

I'm trying to watch this against my feelings of horror about cicadas crawling on you, Emily. I'm not a fan of those bugs. Go to see you again Emily! 😀🖖💕

[@suchnothing]

They're so big and so loud lol. I spent most of my life in places with no cicadas ever. I had heard of them but didn't really know anything. And a couple years ago I moved to a place with cicadas, and holllyyyy they're SO LOUD.

[@chaeburger]

Brain Scoop is back and I couldn't be more excited!!

[@eduardoanavarrov4840]

Omg, opening with Cicadas!!!! Loving the insect coverage!! When I saw this video for the first time, I was so engaged with Periodical cicadas!! Love them

[@BravePip]

Amazing stuff as always, Emily! I didn't know basically everything here. I'm so glad you're back :D

[@twosquids]

It just occurred to me I get to watch brain scoop with my kid. Never would have thought

[@North_West1]

Oh my!!!! Emilies back. The best Christmas present of the year.

[@anacondatiger]

i-i-is this ... Your cicada moment....👀 Also, it's so amazing to have you back! I'm so excited for you and the show and the community!!

[@alonsonavarro3011]

I always tought that racoon you perished fighting soon the racoon. Nice to see you won that battle.

[@Davidbaratunk]

Its great to see you upload again. Didn't really care for bugs before, but your enthusiasm is infectious and your expertise keeps the attention throughout.

[@dannileigh6426]

Missed you so much!!!! So glad you're back, YaY!

[@Dylan-vd6rz]

Living in the South I have a love hate relationship with cicadas. It's not summer until u hear them in the trees but at the same time it's literally mind numbing 😵‍💫

[@Nyaarys]

I love cicadas, they are so fascinating, but I don't think my sensory issues would let me go see a periodical brrod swarm. I'm glad I got to experience that joy vicariously through Emily! ^.^

[@TengkarSeputro]

Glad to see you back!

[@arianamiidolls]

I've been watching since the launch of your channel all those years ago ;w; I'm 27 now, so amazing to see you back again

[@poppybell87]

It STILL has brains on it! Welcome back Emily! We missed you.

[@kylecarmichael5890]

I cannot help but think of when my childhood dog, Snoopy, who had a muzzle the perfect size for a cicada's body with the wings outside just going wild til he worked it around to go 'crunch' and it would stop.

[@Gilgwathir]

We need more people like you Emily! Your enthusiasm is so infectious 😊

[@fugithegreat]

I like your landscape paintings a lot, and the tardigrade painting is so cute!