Day 4 of Arizona backyard photography.
Today we have a couple of yard shots from a van and two shots of cicadas. Cicadas are at least one of the quite noisy insects you often hear during the summer. Sometimes they are called locusts however the over 3,000 species are unrelated to the true locust which is a type of grasshopper. Each species has it’s own distinct “song” that the males produce by a special vibrating membrane (much like a drum) on their abdomen called a tymbal, and in some species it can be heard over a mile away. Some cicadas emerge every years, but some species such as the 17-year cicada appear all of a sudden in large numbers at regular intervals. The young nymphs grow underground feeding on roots and eventually emerge to continue feeding on the sap of trees. When they crawl out of the ground they climb up a tree and have a final molt where they shed their skin and emerge as a winged adult. The molt can often be found still clinging to branches. It should also be noted that in some areas, cicadas are fried and eaten as a delicacy.
Since the two yard pictures are general shots, I’ve not named the plants. However, you can see examples of Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia) and various agave family of plants which includes actual agave plants, yucca plants, among others. The agave link talks about agave genus/family and takes you to a project of the Sonoran Desert Museum which is a great place to visit, though I didn’t make it there this time. It’s interesting to see yards that contain these plants and sand, no mowing like we do back east. However, in some areas people missed the colors and green, so they have planted flowers and grass that traditionally grow in eastern and more northern climates. This is rather unfortunate as they require more water and maintenance than the desert natives as well as creating allergy problems that many people escaped to Arizona to avoid. All of this last bit anecdotal but I definitely prefer the native landscape.
phototerrascientia 