Cicadas Are Almost Gone

The Brood XII cicadas have almost finished their every 17 year breeding frenzy.  And what a mess and odor they are leaving in their wake.  Chicago Tribune writer Ted Gregory describes the odor of dead cicadas as "somewhere between rotting raccoon and cut grass."

Most of the males are dead now.  Only the females are still around.  And even they will be dead by the end of July.  Then it's just another 17 years until we are revisited by the red-eyed insects. (More cicadas stories.)