GIANT CICADA (sp. Quesada gigas)
Also known as the Seventeen Year Locust, the Giant Cicada
has the most extensive range of any Cicada in the Western
Hemisphere.
Capable of living underground for 17 years, as a grub, before
digging to the surface and shedding their old exoskeleton to
reveal wings capable of flight.
Only the males are singers - they’re the ones to blame for the
noise echoing from the Live Oak trees - and are the loudest of
all insects, being heard a half mile away.
Cicadas are considered edible, and dogs have been known to
gorge themselves on Cicadas until they choke. Needless to
say, they make great fishing bait!
Cicadas occasionally contract a very fatal Sexually Transmitted Disease that’s actually a fungus - the Massosporan Fungus - apparently, it’s not considered a danger to humans - that
destroys the Cicada’s ability to reproduce, and it’s fatal, as
well.
LIGHTNING BUG
(sp. Pyrophorus var. )
Here in Rockport we have Bioluminescent Click
Beetles, but they tend to be referred to as Lightning Bugs, as they’re certainly not a normal Firefly.
LORE: The Lighnting Bug has the most frugal
lightsource in the world with a 100% energy to
light effeciency. By comparison, the incandescent light bulb has only a 10% effeciency.
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