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May 2024
25m 7s

Smologies #43: CICADAS with Gene Kritsky

ALIE WARD
About this episode

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They are numerous. They are patient. They are COMING for the United States in droves this spring: They are cicadas. *The* Cicada guy Dr. Gene Kritsky joins to chat all about the annual cicadas you may see every summer vs. the periodical ones that cycle through the states in broods of giant numbers. Learn how they survive underground for decades, what they are doing down there, all about their lifecycle, why some cozy up underground for 17 years while others get moving 4 years quicker, plus get inspired to take a cicada safari, download Cicada Safari, and appreciate their songs, which can be as loud as an ambulance. By the end, you’ll want to don a bug costume and take a road trip to one of the 18 states expecting a periodical emergence this spring!

Dr. Gene Kritsky’s new cicada book A Tale of Two Broods: The 2024 Emergence of Periodical Cicada Broods XIII and XIX

Download the Cicada Safari app at the Apple Store or Google Play Store.

Check out Dr. Kritsky’s website

Also see CicadaMania.com, and follow them on Instagram

A donation was made to Mount Saint Joseph’s cicada research in the School of Behavioral and Natural Sciences

Full-length (*not* G-rated) Cicadology episode + tons of science links

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Follow @AlieWard on X and Instagram

Sound editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions, Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media and Steven Ray Morris

Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm

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