Cicadas can urinate on you from trees, study says

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – The sounds of cicadas buzzing in Tennessee could drive anyone mad. The insects’ mating call has become the unofficial soundtrack of nature in the Volunteer State since emerging in late April.

But the insects have more to brag about beyond their unescapable and unwavering chirps, clicks and hums. They’re also great pee-ers, according to science.

A study released about the urination flow rates of animals across the world showed cicadas pee two to three times stronger and faster than elephants and humans. They have a muscle that pushes the waste through a tiny hole like a jet, according to Georgia Tech biophysics professor Saad Bhamla.

He said he learned this when in the Amazon he happened on a tree the locals called a “weeping tree” because liquid was flowing down, like the plant was crying. It was cicada urine.

”You walk around in a forest where they’re actively chorusing on a hot sunny day. It feels like it’s raining,” said University of Connecticut entomologist John Cooley. “That’s their honeydew or waste product coming out the back end ... It’s called cicada rain.”

While the thought of “cicada rain” may be unsettling, they won’t be around forever.

In total, billions of cicadas are expected to hatch across the Midwest and Southeast while they’re here. Experts expect most of the cicadas to be gone by around July 1.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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