Daniel P. Finney

dafinney@dmreg.com;

The call to Des Moines police was a typical DPQ: disturbing the peace and quiet.

The spot was in the 4600 block of Grand Avenue, right in front of the Des Moines Art Center.

Officer Scott Baker of the department's neighborhood police team responded. He produced a sound meter from the back of his SUV.

He took several readings near the trees. He consistently picked up 83 decibels, with a high of 85.7.

The noise was a clear violation of city code, which allows for 60 decibels in a residential area from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

That's where the problem came for Baker. The culprits were tens of thousands of periodical cicadas occupying the old forested areas around Grand Avenue.

"I don't think I have enough tiny handcuffs," Baker said.

The periodical cicadas appear once every 17 years. They first started making their appearances in Iowa about three weeks ago.

Their emergence lasts only about six weeks, so they'll be gone by early July. They'll be replaced by the annual cicadas, a drab greenish-brown bug that is easier to live with.

In the meantime, though, they make a lot of noise. That noise, by the way, is a mating call. It's like a Dave Matthews concert for the female periodical cicada.

It's a high-pitched sound, something akin to the noise cooked up by a primitive Hollywood sound effects department to simulate an alien flying saucer landing on Earth in a 1950s flick.

And it's loud.

"Loud and gross," said Jennifer Callahan of Grimes, who remarked on the critters on a visit to Winterset.

The 83-decibel reading is similar to noise from a factory, vacuum, lawn mower, motorcycle or screaming child, according to a police guidebook.

Hearing loss can occur at 85 decibels over prolonged periods.

But the noise is hardly the only problem with the periodical cicadas. Their emergence leaves large holes in the ground, bigger than typically healthy soil aeration.

And, of course, they die. This could be considered a good thing, but their shells land on the ground in great piles under trees.

This, too, is against the law. State law requires all bodies to be disposed of within 24 hours of death.

But these rowdy periodical cicadas don't seem all that interested in the law, what with their loud parties and bodies dropping everywhere.

"My granddaughters are scared to death of them," said Ronda DeGeest of Attica. "We can't even go outside to play right now. I can't wait for the cicadas to leave."

It's probably a mistake to judge anybody on appearance, but the periodical cicada is a touch creepy to human sensibilities, what with their red eyes, black segmented bodies, and yellow trim on their wings.

"That would scare a little kid," Baker said, observing the swarms at the Des Moines Art Center.

Baker pledged to do his part, tongue in cheek. He said he would urge the animal control unit to bring in backup.

He slid his sunglasses down to the edge of his nose. He peered over the top of them with a hard policeman's stare.

"We take this very seriously," he said.

Just then, a periodical cicada landed on his head.

Technically, that's assault on a police officer, another law brazenly broken by the outlaw insect gang known as periodical cicadas.