For Immediate Release Media contact: The Field Museum Greg Borzo 312/665-7106 gborzo@fieldmuseum.org The Field Museum Prepares for the Summer of Cicadas Museum to Open Temporary Exhibit "Cicadas and Emerald Ash Borers" CHICAGO—Cicada season is almost upon us; after seventeen years, the cicadas of Brood XII will emerge from the ground in enormous numbers this June. The insects, which have musical mechanisms in their bellies, will certainly be hard to ignore once they have arrived in the Chicago area. To mark the arrival of the 17-year periodic cicadas, The Field Museum will open a new exhibition, Cicadas and Emerald Ash Borers, on Friday, May 18, 2007. The exhibit, which will be housed in several cases on the ground floor of the Museum, will feature an extraordinary video of a 17-year periodic cicada emerging from the ground. The exhibit also contains specimens from the Museum's collection, a letter about cicadas written by Charles Darwin to a Chicago-area scientist and seven different pieces of art from around the globe depicting the insect. Cicadas will give insight to the life cycle of the cicada, the longest-living insect species in the world. Visitors will also get a chance to learn about the emerald ash borer, the insect that is wreaking havoc on ash trees throughout the Chicago region. If the Cicadas exhibit wets your appetite for all things creepy-crawly, be sure to also visit Underground Adventure to learn more about cicadas, as well as other subterranean life forms. Underground Adventure shrinks you to the size of a bug and turns you loose in an underground soil ecosystem. You will come face-to-face with giant earwigs, ants a wolf spider and more. True cicada fans can even climb into a cicada exoskeleton. Cicadas and Emerald Ash Borers will be on display at The Field Museum from Friday, May 18, 2007 through Labor Day. Admission is free with basic admission. The Museum is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with last tickets sold at 4 p.m. For more information, call (312) 922-9410, or visit www.fieldmuseum.org. The Field Museum is located at 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. <<Return to the Press Room