In the month of May 2004, certain parts of Michigan were invaded by large swarms of cicadas which seemingly appeared out of nowhere. They carpeted treetops and created a huge ruckus with their mating calls.

The cicadas in this gallery are 17-year periodical cicadas. In particular, these are the Brood X cicadas. They are called 17-year periodicals because they appear only once every 17 years to breed and then die. That is part of the reason why their emergence caused a great stir among the community.

I had the opportunity to see them for myself at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It took a 20 minute trek into the deeper part of the jungle trail before I could hear and then eventually see them. Seeing millions of cicadas covering the treetops was an awesome sight.

Within a week, their numbers dwindled as they were feasted upon by predators and also through natural death. We’ll see them again in another 17 years…