An amorous cicada, one of billions to emerge from the ground across a swath of the US, has been blamed for a car crash in Ohio.
The insect, part of a brood that emerges once every 17 years to mate, terrify residents then die, flew through an open car window, according to police, and struck the driver in the face. That caused the motorist to veer off the road in Cincinnati on Monday, striking a utility pole and causing extensive damage to the vehicle.
The motorist sustained minor injuries, police said. The cicada was declared dead on the scene.
Cincinnati police tweeted a photo showing a black Chevrolet which had seemingly been impacted on the front offside. The police department tagged the post: “#nothinggoodhappenswithcicadas”.
#Crash single car into a pole at 2600 Riverside Drive. Caused by a cicada that flew in through an open window striking the driver in the face. #nothinggoodhappenswithcicadas #cicadas2021 pic.twitter.com/0WWUM8y5Ye
— Cincinnati Police Department (@CincyPD) June 7, 2021
Cicadas are swarming across the Cincinnati area as well as parts of Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York. They are part of Brood X, which last emerged in 2004.
Described as “extremely sex-driven” by one expert, the insects cannot bite people or eat solids but their red eyes and habit of flying into people have ensured that many Americans are now afraid to leave their homes.
Having satisfied their desires, male cicadas quickly die. Females lay 500 eggs in tree branches before dying too. Once the eggs hatch, six to 10 weeks later, the baby cicadas clamber down from the tree and burrow into the ground, and the cycle begins once more.
Cincinnati police advised motorists to keep their windows closed for the time being, and chastised one Twitter wag who suggested the cicada may have been a convenient excuse for nefarious behavior.
“Sadly the young man’s car was totalled,” police said. “The heavy swarm in the area and dead cicada on the floorboard proved he wasn’t lying.”
