The next two months will be the liveliest time in the United States, with trillions of cicadas appearing on the land of 16 states in the United States.
These cicadas come from 2 families, one is the most abundant family of cicadas currently known, labeled Brood XIII thirteen cicada nest, which belongs to the 17-year-old cicada.
The other is said to have the largest geographical range of all cicada families, labeled Brood XIX, and the attribute is the 13-year-old cicada.
The attributes of the cicada 13 years and 17 years actually refer to the life cycle of the cicada.
For example:
Female cicadas lay their eggs on branches and then die, and the branches soon die because of the many eggs on them and then fall to the ground. At this time, the eggs inside the branches develop into nymphs, and they crawl into the soil to continue their development.
After a period of development, the cicada crawls out of the ground, completes its last molt and develops into an adult, and then it is put into the stage of finding mates and reproducing.
13 years or 17 years actually represents the time when the cicada develops underground.
Different cicadas have different development times in the soil, most of them are three or five years, and only North America has 13 and 17 years of this long-lived cicada.
Due to different life cycles, in general, the time for cicadas to appear on the ground is not the same.
However, there are always times when it happens.
This year 2024, there will be 2 litters of cicadas that happen to "go to the ground" together, and the probability of them appearing at the same time is once in 221.
The last time it was in 1803 and the next time it was in 2245.
If you can't defeat them, eat them!
Cicadas, active on the ground for no more than 1 month, emerge into adulthood, reproduce, lay eggs, and finally die.
Although it has been around for a relatively short period of time, it will be a natural event with great impact for Americans.
In order to find a mate, the male cicadas are desperately chirping in the trees, and dozens of cicadas on a tree are already noisy and difficult to calm down.
On top of that, so many cicadas will feed on the sap of their branches, and it is foreseeable that a large number of trees will die because of the presence of cicadas, and the damage caused is immeasurable.
For this reason, at the beginning of this year, major media were reporting the news of the "doomsday cicada" in the United States, and many experts appeared at that time, suggesting that the public could not defeat them, and they could try to eat them to reduce losses.
Some also cite examples of Chinese eating cicadas, but the public is generally unacceptable, and the unacceptability is mainly divided into two types:
One is simply unable to tolerate eating bugs, and even despises people who eat bugs.
"I'm not going to eat them because they're bugs."
"It's disgusting, that's what rich people want to trick us into eating."
There is also a type of people who can eat insects, but are not used to eating cicadas.
"I can eat insect powder, and I dare to eat grasshoppers and bread worms, but I dare not eat cicadas."
"Cicadas, how do you eat them, is it delicious?"
However, after a few months, Americans' attitudes towards cicadas have shifted, and cicada cuisine has become the latest gastronomic trend of the moment.
Just last week, a husband and wife in South Carolina hosted an insect dinner in which a variety of cicada diets were served: fried cicadas, bacon rolls, and spiced fried cicadas.
Those who dared to try it said: "It tastes good, it tastes nutty." ”
The head chef of a well-known restaurant in Chicago also said that he is ready to add cicadas to the menu, and will serve roasted cicadas and fried cicada salads to diners.
The head of an insect company in Maine also believes that cicadas are a very good food, with high protein content and no worse nutritional value than beef. He felt that there were so many cicadas that were about to appear, and there was no need for Americans to waste them.
Jim Werner, director of the nutritional food program at The Ohio State University Medical Center, also issued a guide to eating cicadas:
"The cicada, which has just taken off its shell and has just climbed the tree, is the most tender and tasty, and the female has more meat than the male. When caught, avoid human gardens, as there are more chemicals and pollutants left in the garden. ”
He also advised the public to boil the cicadas in water for one minute after catching them, and then put them in a ziplock bag to seal and refrigerate, and take them as they eat.
When eating, remove the wings and head, fry it in olive oil, add a little seasoning and stir-fry it until it is "crunchy" and ready to eat.
But the US FDA kind reminder: those who are allergic to seafood can't eat cicadas, which can also cause allergies.
At last
When it comes to eating cicadas, the Chinese have the most right to speak.
There is one thing that foreigners have learned.
The monkey that has just come out of its shell, which is still in the upside-down posture in the photo above, is the most tender and delicious, and it is also the most expensive, the most expensive one last year was sold for 2 yuan, and a pound can be sold for 260 yuan.
Cicadas like this are easy to find and catch, so a group of "hunters" who catch monkeys seasonally have been derived, and it is said that they earn 30,000 or 40,000 a month in the peak season.
According to the records of "Zhuangzi Dasheng", some people would stick it with a stick and take it home to eat.
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, in order to eat cicadas, there were also special cooking utensils - roasting cicada ovens.
Up to now, people in many regions have retained the tradition of eating cicadas, and many places such as Anhui, Shandong, Henan and Zhejiang are the main eaters of Zhizhi Monkey.
There are also a variety of ways to eat it, including frying, stir-frying, crispy frying, scrambled eggs, and making dumpling fillings.
Due to the large number of people who eat it, we have developed the cicada farming industry.
In general, from questioning to understanding, and finally learning that we eat cicadas, in desperation, Americans have also begun to promote the use of food to solve "troubles".