History:This 17-year periodical cicada from Brood X (aka “Brood 10”) emerged in Maryland in late May 2021. During this emergence, up to 1.5 million cicadas per acre emerged from the ground as nymphs, climbed trees (or other vertical structures) with large, clawed forelimbs, and metamorphosed into adults. Adult cicadas, which are the world’s loudest insects, proceeded to fly erratically in unfathomable numbers with deafening lawnmower-like noises (produced from abdominal drums known as tymbals) to attract females for mating. This animal was found moribund in the author’s (EC) front yard and was euthanized with formalin.
Gross Lesions:Posterior segments of the animal were absent and displaced by large, soft, white, powdery material that extended into the posterior aspect of the coelom.