The Story of the Cicada Launch Pad

launch pad of cicada

There is a tree of average size in my garden, and at this time of year, the cicadas really chirp quite a lot.

There are three or four of them on a single tree, and since they chirp at the same time, it is quite intense.

They make a 'zzzz' sound, so I assume they are Kumazemi (large brown cicadas), and there are many magnificent cicadas...

Well, it is a seasonal tradition of summer, and since this is a residential area, I figured there probably weren't any good trees nearby, so I left them alone. However, for the past two or three years, there have often been many cicada shells, so-called 'utsusemi,' attached to the tree trunk.

Oh, I wondered if the cicadas chirping were actually from my tree.

They say salmon return to the river where they were born, and it makes me happy to think that maybe cicadas have something like that too.

When I think that way, it is strange how I can even forgive the noisy sound of the cicadas.

During the long weekend the other day, I finally encountered a scene of a cicada emerging.

It was my first experience at this age, and I quietly observed the emergence together with the children from the house next door who happened to be there.
It emerges very, very slowly. The adult is a Kumazemi, which looks dark, but when it has just emerged, the color is pale, and the wings have a light green tint.

The children were watching with great interest, and they seemed to be waiting for the cicada to fly away after it had emerged, but I told them it couldn't fly until its wings had dried, and then I went back into the house.

The next day, the children came to check that the cicada was gone.

When they confirmed it had flown away, the older brother suddenly said,

'This tree is a cicada launch pad, isn't it?'

I was quite impressed, thinking that was a clever way to put it.

They asked for the cicada shell that was left behind, so I gave it to them, and they took it home carefully so as not to break it.

Since there was only one cicada shell, the younger brother seemed to want one too and said he wanted to come look for one again. I agreed, but I also felt a little worried, hoping the neighbor's wife wouldn't mind...

Well then, I've started to feel a bit excited, like a child again, wondering how many cicadas will take flight from their launchpads this summer.

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