The world’s most fascinating insects live in the eastern United States. Periodical cicadas spend most of their lives underground, sucking up nutrients from tree and shrub roots. But every 13 or 17 years, they emerge en masse to reproduce. If you are in the right spot (this year, parts of Kansas and the Mississippi Valley), you can see thousands or tens of thousands all at once. (For information on Broods XXIII and IV, which are emerging this year, see magicicada.org).
Film-maker Samuel Orr is making a full-length documentary of their remarkable lives. His promotion video is an outstanding documentary in its own right:
Full disclosure: I provided some financial support for Sam’s documentary. And I posted a similar post two years ago.