There'll be birth. Wow!
There'll be death. (GASPS)
There'll be romance in the treetops. Ooh!
There'll be predators.
It's going to be better than an episode of Game Of Thrones.
Yes!
Yep, get ready for the next Hollywood blockbuster.
(CICADAS CHIRP)
Well, not quite... (CRUNCHES)
..but these insects do have an epic story.
It all takes place in... Where else? ..(ECHOES) America!
You see, while cicadas are those famously noisy insects
that are found all over the world,
the kind starring in this story are different.
They're Brood X cicadas,
which only come out every 17 years.
They spend that time growing underground
and living off sap from tree roots.
But then...it's time.
(CRACKING)
They're going to emerge in such massive numbers synchronously.
Boom!
Billions, possibly even trillions,
of them come out all at once, ready to take over the world,
or live out their lives peacefully, I guess.
Oh, yeah. There they are.
Hey, teenagers. How are you doing?
What's life been underground like for the last 17 years?
As you can tell, it's a pretty big deal
for insect scientists like Professor Raupp.
This is just a spectacular event.
I mean, there's nothing else like this
on the entire planet Earth,
even in the entire universe.
Yeah, OK, a very big deal.
But this isn't where the drama stops.
First, a costume change.
Weird!
They shed their skins,
and by morning, they're going to assume
that wonderful colour -
jet black body, bright red eyes, orange wings.
Then the cicadas make their way very slowly up trees.
Right now, everything on the planet wants to eat a cicada,
so once they get to the treetops,
they're going to be in relative safety.
That's when the romance happens.
Oh, and the very noisy mating call.
(CICADAS RATTLE)
Female cicadas then lay their eggs in the tree branches,
and six weeks later, they hatch and fall to the ground,
and the babies burrow metres underground to grow
and start the cycle all over again.
Aw!
As for the parents, they only live above ground
for about three weeks before they...die.
(SOBS)
Alright, enough of that!
Lately, people all over America have been seeing
and hearing the creatures come out in their backyards.
Come on, Willie. There we go. That's the cicada way.
Hey, Willie. How you doing?
For some, it's a cool experience.
For others, it's a slightly confronting sight.
Cicadas don't bite. Cicadas don't sting.
Cicadas don't fly away with small dogs and children
like the monkeys in The Wizard Of Oz.
Ah! My little party's just beginning!
Um...yep. Good to know.
But there's another twist in the cicada story -
a crunchy twist.
(GASPS)
Cicadas and shrimp are in the same family.
It's one of the reasons why, when people taste cicadas,
they say, "Oh, that tastes like shrimp."
In some restaurants in America,
they're being served up to hungry customers.
Cicada taco, anyone?
At first, like, you can definitely feel, like,
a bit of the crunch, but when you start to chew it,
it kind of just, like, melts in.
I think, going into it,
the concept that I'm eating a cicada is a little odd and weird,
but, um, it's actually not bad.
Not to worry, though.
Entomologists say there are a lot of these cicadas to go around,
and nutritionists say they're a good source of protein.
And that's it,
but tune in for the sequel to this epic blockbuster
when the next cicadas emerge in...2038.
Oh, what?! That's ages!
I already waited 11 years for the second Avatar.
Man! (SIGHS)