Seems that the periodical cicadas are digging their way to the surface after 17 years spent underground according to Newsday . Elias Bonaros a cardiologist from Bayside and amateur bug enthusiast with a deep interest in the cicadas and his girlfriend Barbara Rzeszutek have been touring around Otsego Park in Dix Hills, in search of cicada nymphs.Cicada

Having witnessed the 1991 emergence of Brood XIV; Bonaros was eager to see how their offspring would fare this time around. Periodical cicadas spend most of their long lives a foot or so below ground. Mature "nymph" cicadas after 3-17 years below use their forelegs to tunnel up. They emerge by the hundreds and thousands in parts of the Northeast and Midwest.

Many people are startled by the noises the periodical cicadas make during their emergence. The male cicadas produce courtship songs for the females."It sounds like a whistling, just a constant din in the forest," Bonaros said.