In parts of the eastern, central, and southern United States, trillions of Brood X periodical cicadas are now emerging after 17 years spent underground. As the days warm up, more and more will make the journey up tree trunks to molt, find a mate, lay their eggs, then die soon after. In a number of places, people have been collecting these cicadas for food—some out of curiosity, and others to demonstrate sustainable ways of eating.
Cicada Summer Is Here
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A student from Indiana University photographs a pile of cicadas and exoskeletons at the base of a tree on campus in Bloomington on May 21, 2021. Brood X cicadas have begun emerging from the ground after 17 years. #
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Julie Biedrzycki (right) holds her son Alden as family friend Veri Tas collects periodical cicadas from the ground around Biedrzycki's home on May 17, 2021, in Lanham, Maryland. Biedrzycki's family and friends are collecting thousands of the insects to cook and serve as part of a Cicadafest party at Jim Duke's Green Farmacy Garden in Fulton, Maryland. #
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Fried cicadas are rolled into a sushi roll by Chef Bun Lai at Fort Totten Park in Washington, D.C., on May 23, 2021. Chef Bun is a leader in the sustainable food movement and cooks cicadas to help open the conversation to alternative ways of eating that are less destructive than traditional farming, which he sees as unsustainable. #
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Maru Losada, an entomologist at the Smithsonian Institution, eats grilled cicadas for the first time during Cicadafest at Jim Duke's Green Farmacy Garden on May 22, 2021, in Crofton, Maryland. Guests were invited to sample air-fried, grilled, and chocolate-dipped cicadas during the event, which celebrated the emergence of Brood X. #
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