To some folks, the buzz may be loud and different, but to cicadas, it is a party that is 17 years in the making. Periodical cicadas, unlike the annual cicadas that come and go, are here in the Midwest for 2024, and Shirley Heinze Land Trust decided to honor them with a Cicadapalooza on Saturday at Meadowbrook Nature Preserve, as it is one of the few spots in Northwest Indiana that is home to a significant population of the insects. Visitors could observe cicadas up close in different life stages and their shells, make an origami cicada, make a collage, or hike through the preserve with a guide to learn more.
“Here we are asking people to be creative and make a cicada collage while learning about the body parts,” said Sarah Pavlovic, a volunteer naturalist with Shirley Heinze. “They can learn that the cicada has a head, a thorax, an abdomen and two pairs of wings.” “I remember the last emergence 17 years ago and there is a lot to know,” said Pavlovic, of Chesterton.
“Cicadas live a long life cycle underground but their emergence is staggered, in that they come out every year, being the annual cicadas.” From left, Cody Banks, project amnager for Shirley Heinze Land Trust, talks about cicadas on a hike through Meadowbrook Nature Preserve with Christopher Lods of Michgian City, Bill Blaszak of Valparaiso, and Julie Polizotto of Valparaiso on Saturday, June 8, 2024. (Deena Lawley-Dixon/for Post-Tribune)“The periodical cicadas are unique in that they all emerge at.
