Return of the Cicadas

Filmmaker Samuel Orr has been working on a cicada documentary since 2007 (he's got a Kickstarter project to finish it) and now has put together an astonishing short film — footage, including timelapse, of cicadas emerging, molting, mating, and even the next generation being born. It's a weird combo of gross and amazing, as these creepy-crawlies climb from beneath the soil to take their place on trees. My favorite part is the molting timelapse around 2:00 — beautiful and certainly non-gross. Behold:

Return of the Cicadas from motionkicker on Vimeo.

Also fun: Radiolab's interactive "Swarmageddon" map showing where the cicadas are emerging.

(Via It's Okay to Be Smart.)