The 17 year cicada.

A 17 year cicada stares back at the camera in Illinois on May 21.
(Photo and caption submitted by David G. Emmert)

An employee of the Chicago Botanic Garden uses a shovel to reveal holes left in the ground left by emerging cicadas Monday, May 14, 2007, in Glencoe, Ill. Almost all members of a cicada group, or brood, burst from the ground within a couple days of each other quickly climbing to the nearest vertical surface to molt and unroll their wings.
(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

A cicada nymph crawls across the ground Monday, May 14, 2007,
at the Chicago Botanic garden in Glencoe, Ill. The cicada is part of Brood XIII which is expected to appear soon across northern Illinois,
and in parts of Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana.
Cicadas live only about 30 days as adults, and their main goal is mating.
(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Chicago Botanic Garden arborist Tom Tiddens holds several cicada nymphs in the palm of his hand on Monday, May 14, 2007, in Glencoe, Ill. Almost all the members of the cicada group, or Brood XIII, are expected to burst from the ground within a couple of days of each other in what one entomologist describes at one of the greatest insect emergences on earth.
(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

An adult cicada climbs a tree in Princeton, N.J., in this June 1, 2004, file photo. The red-eyed, shrimp-sized, flying insects, which should be appearing soon, don't bite or sting. But they are known for mating calls that produce a din that can overpower ringing telephones, lawn mowers and power tools. (AP Photo/Daniel Hulshizer, File)

This photo released by the Lake County Forest Preserve shows slits
made by female cicadas laying eggs in a small tree branch. Horticultural experts say cicadas can cause premature browning or loss of leaves,
or for some smaller branches to split, wither and die.
(AP Photo/Lake County Forest Preserve)

Tom Tiddens, an arborist at the Chicago Botanic Garden, stands next to a small tree covered with tulle Monday, May 14, 2007, in Glencoe, Ill. Tiddens recommends covering small or young trees with netting to protect them from damage caused by egg-laying cicadas.
(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

The 17-year Cicadas start to emerge in Lombard, IL on May 22.
(Photo and caption submitted by Jennifer Kijek)

It's not all bad - it's lunch for many creatures...

a blue tongued skink munches on a cicada.

a cotton-top tamarin lunches on a cicada.

a bearded dragon lizard eyes a cicada.

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