Cicada Counting Unites MD Family, Teaches Beauty Of Nature

BRANDYWINE, MD — A Brandywine family turned this year's cicada swarm into a learning experience. Sarah Frank and her children are competing to see who can find the most critters.

Frank's oldest son, 9-year-old Alexander, started the contest. Audrey and Owen, both 6, are putting up a tough fight. Alexander explained that the winner will get the Grand Cicada Award.

"All the kids think they’re pretty and so do I (probably unpopular opinion)," Frank told Patch in an email. "They are very outdoorsy kids. They live to be outdoors and find lots of creatures."

Frank mentioned that her children have found everything from box turtles to luna moths and butterflies. Alexander once caught tadpoles in a stream near their house, so his father set up a fish tank to raise the babies.

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As for the cicadas, Frank hopes their game will reinforce the importance of the environment.

"I hope they can find joy in nature--beauty in it--regardless of what it looks like," she added. "The next time this brood will be here, they’ll be grown up. They might even have children of their own."

These 17-year cicadas are part of Brood X. They burrow underground for nearly two decades and emerge just to reproduce and shed their exoskeleton skins. The insects die after giving birth to the next generation, starting the cycle all over.

Based on the last emergence in 2004, state officials expect the cicadas to return to these areas:

• Allegany County
• Anne Arundel County
• Baltimore City
• Baltimore County
• Carroll County
• Cecil County
• Frederick County
• Eastern Garrett County
• Harford County
• Howard County
• Montgomery County
• Prince George's County
• Washington County

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The creatures are known for their continuous buzz, which can be as loud as 100 decibels. That's as loud as a motorcycle.

"I love the noise they make, their colorfulness, the skins they leave behind," Frank noted. "Everything about them is pretty neat."

The family also set up a collection box for all the skins they find. Frank plans on doing "some weird art project with them."

"Maybe we’ll stick all the skins to their shirts, which will probably gross a lot of people out," Frank concluded. "But I think the kids are going to love it."

Patch Editors Deb Belt, Beth Dalbey and Elizabeth Janney contributed reporting to this story.

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