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President Joe Biden had special meeting with cicadas before departure on his first foreign trip of seven days to UK, Belgium and Switzerland for meeting World leaders including Queen Elizabeth II, Russian President Putin and G-7 Summit
Wednesday, June 09, 2021

President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden arrive aboard Air Force One at RAF Mildenhall, England, June 9, 2021. (Joe Giddens/Pool via AP).

VietPress USA (June 9, 2021): Today on Wednesday, President Joe Biden departed the United States on his first foreign trip of seven days as president since his office swearing in, with stops in the United Kingdom, Belgium and Switzerland. He will meet with world leaders, including Queen Elizabeth II and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In Europe, Biden will participate in the G-7 summit that kicks off Thursday in the U.K., the NATO summit in Brussels on June 14 and a highly anticipated meeting with Putin in Geneva on June 16.

But President Biden had a summit of a different sort before he left. On the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews, the president swatted away what appeared to be a cicada that had landed on his neck.

“Watch out for the cicadas,” he told reporters before boarding Air Force One. “One just got me.”

On Tuesday night, a plane set to carry dozens of journalists to Europe to cover Biden’s first trip abroad was grounded after cicadas filled its engines, delaying its departure for more than five hours. It's lucky that the president’s Air Force One plane flew off without a hitch.

Nancy Hinkle, professor of entomology at the University of Georgia, tells Yahoo Life that, periodical cicadas — which are found in the Northeast, typically in the central and eastern parts of the U.S. — make an appearance every 17 years. The forthcoming group, known as Brood X, is expected to emerge from the ground in the billions by late April or May when soil levels warm up to about 64 degrees.

Brood X is made up of three different species of cicadas. "But they all act like one group, one population". The group will crawl out of the ground at night — likely to avoid predators, says Hinkle — in waves over several days. "They'll crawl up on sticks or tree trunks or fence posts and allow their bodies to harden. Underground they're nymphs and have soft bodies. So they have to shed their skin [or exoskeleton] so their wings will be free. It takes an hour or two [for their adult skin] to harden."

And once it hits a certain temperature, the "singing" starts — and it's not quiet either. In fact, cicadas are one of the noisiest insects. Their singing can be as loud as 100 decibels — the equivalent of a lawnmower about three feet away. But cicadas only sing during the day. "Periodical cicadas do not call at night, unless it is very hot during the night, " Chris Simon, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Connecticut, tells Yahoo Life. "Since these are spring cicadas, this is less likely."

Only the male cicadas sing and they sing for sex. Their singing  attract the female cicadas for mating. Each species of male cicadas also makes its own distinct sound.  The serenading tends to get noisier right before the sun goes down, which is when cicadas call it a night. One last shout out before sunset!

Cicadas are one of the most amazing natural phenomena in the world and unlike some insects, they are "perfectly harmless". They can't bite and sting. After having sex, the female cicadas lay their eggs underground and exactly 17 years later the eggs will be hatched the new generation of cicadas as "It is a mystery," it takes 17 years from the egg to become a cicada, but the life of cicada is too short. Cicadas sing, make love and die after 5 to 7 weeks of living!

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'Watch out for the cicadas': Biden swats bug before departing on 1st overseas trip

Dylan Stableford
·Senior Writer


President Biden departed the United States Wednesday on his first foreign trip as president, with stops in the United Kingdom, Belgium and Switzerland, and meetings with world leaders, including Queen Elizabeth II and Russian President Vladimir Putin, planned over the next seven days.

But Biden had a summit of a different sort before he left. On the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews, the president swatted away what appeared to be a cicada that had landed on his neck.

“Watch out for the cicadas,” he told reporters before boarding Air Force One. “One just got me.”

President Biden wipes his neck after a cicada landed on him before boarding Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews Wednesday. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
President Biden wipes his neck after a cicada landed on him before boarding Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

The large flying insects have swarmed the eastern United States in recent weeks, with Brood X cicadas blanketing the Washington, D.C., area, in particular. The periodical cicadas make an appearance every 17 years.

On Tuesday night, the plane set to carry dozens of journalists to Europe to cover Biden’s first trip abroad was grounded after cicadas filled its engines, delaying its departure for more than five hours.

The president’s plane, though, flew off without a hitch.

In Europe, Biden will participate in the G-7 summit that kicks off Thursday in the U.K., the NATO summit in Brussels on June 14 and a highly anticipated meeting with Putin in Geneva on June 16.

After relaying the cicada incident, Biden was asked what he hoped to accomplish on the trip.

President Biden swats away a cicada (not seen) that was flying around his head prior to boarding Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews Wednesday. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
Biden swats away a cicada prior to boarding Air Force One. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

“Strengthening the alliance,” he said. “Make it clear to Putin and China that Europe and the United States are tight.”

The president also said he has a global vaccine strategy that he’ll be announcing in the coming days.

Asked whether he might forge some kind of understanding with Putin on the recent cyberattacks, Biden paused, then replied: “Who knows?”

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