Not Near the Cicadas? Watch Them on Live Cicada Cam - East Idaho News
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Not Near the Cicadas? Watch Them on Live Cicada Cam

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GETTY 5713 Cicada?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1369680193448iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — If you live on the East Coast you’ve started to witness the invasion. Their shells have started to cover the ground and their high-pitched buzzing has begun to fill the air. They’re Cicadas, and the bugs have begun to emerge for the first time in 17 summers.

But if you’re not in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Virginia or one of the other East Coast states that will be home to the insects this summer, you can still see them. And not just in some photos.

The Science Channel has launched a “Cicada Cam,” which will live stream a group of the soft-shelled bugs through Monday evening. According to The Los Angeles Times, the channel launched the stream to promote the channel’s Swarm Chasers and Cicada Invaders 2013 shows, which premiered on Sunday night. Nevertheless, you can see the bugs crawl around a terrarium that’s been decorated with a Capitol building model.

According to National Geographic, the species spends much of their early life underground. When they emerge after two to 17 years, they latch on to trees and within a week they shed their nymph exoskeleton. Without the skin, they have stronger wings and the male cicada make the loud, noisy sounds to woo the female cicadas. And then the cycle begins again.

There are more than 1,500 Cicada species; it’s Magicicada septendecim species that arrive every 17 years.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

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