COCHRAN, Ga. — Cicadas have taken over central Georgia. They are big and loud, but now they are starting to shed their skin.
Chrissy Gaultney sent this photo to the 13WMAZ Weather Network Facebook Group.
It's a picture of a cicada getting rid of its exo-skeleton.
The group is filled with pictures and videos of cicada sightings.
Kirby Swenson, a Middle Georgia State University biology professor, says it's a part of their life cycle.
"As soon as they're born, as babies, they hatch. They eat a little tree sap off the branch they were born on," Swenson said. "They fall to the ground. They burrow into the dirt, and they live off the tree sap that they drink from the roots of trees."
2024 is the year a special brood of cicadas emerge. They have bright red eyes.
"They dig their way out of the ground and change from the juvenile form to adult form, which does have wings," Swenson said.
Along with its screeching, its goal is to mate.
"Only the males make sound, and what they do is they vibrate this thin membrane that has ridges on it, similar to this toy, and they vibrate that membrane back and forth two to three times a second, and that's what causes the buzzing sound," Swenson said.
Thousands, if not millions, of cicadas make this sound in sync.
In the end its a harmless bug, but I think we can all agree, it's a little creepy.