Cicada

This is the coming out year for the 13-year periodical cicadas throughout the south (called the Great Southern Brood). These guys have been living underground as nymphs for 13 years, and are coming out now to shed their shells, mate, and then die. As a survival mechanism, they emerge by the millions to satisfy the appetites of their many predators. The idea is that the predators will gorge on the plentiful prey until they can't eat anymore - leaving the surviving cicadas to lay their eggs to produce the next generation - coming to you in 2024. To attract mates, they congegrate in groups and when there is a forest full of them, produce sounds like a distant jet engine. We were out at our property and heard this relatively loud noise that we initially thought was bulldozer work going on in the area, until we started seeing many of these little guys (about a third of the size of the black/green larger ones we are all familiar with) buzzing about. They're colorful little buggers.