When we moved our family back to Nebraska a number of years ago my Washington State-raised wife remarked about the incessent noise in the evenings. That sound, a chirping, was strange and unnerving to her. But it was familiar and comforting to me, and told me that I was definitely back home again. It was the sound of male cicadas singing in the early evening.

We often read about cicadas in the news. There are certain species of cicadas, called periodical cicacdas, which emerge from the ground only after many years and all at one time. For example, a "brood" of periodical cicadas may appear every 13 or 17 years, depending on which brood it is. Scientists have tracked these groups of cicadas for decades and decades and can predict when a certain brood will appear in a specific area of the country. Millions of cicadas emerge, a literal feast for birds and other prey. The insects reproduce, lay their eggs and die. A few weeks later the nymphs hatch and crawl back into the ground to only emerge, like their parents did before them, when their brood's time comes again, as many as 17 years later.

While there is some periodical cicada activity in Nebraska, we mostly experience annual cicadas, which are exactly what their name indicates - you will see these cicadas every year. They do not emerge all at once as a "brood."

While you hear them plenty, you rarely see a live cicada. It is more likely you will see their exoskeletons that they leave behind as they grow and moult. I took this photo a couple years ago and was fortunate to get the newly minted adult next to its former exoskeleton. I believe it is a type called a "dog-days cicada" because it tends to be present during the "dog-days" of summer in July and August.