Not Near the Cicadas? Watch Them on Live Cicada Cam

Image credit: Dave Ellis/The Free Lance-Star/AP Photo

If you live on the East Coast you've started to witness the invasion. Their shells have started to cover the ground and their high-pitched buzzing has begun to fill the air. They're the Cicadas and the bugs have begun to emerge for the first time in 17 summers.

But if you're not in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Virginia or one of the other East Coast states which will be home to the insects this summer, you can still see them. And not just in some photos.

The Science Channel has launched a Cicada Cam, which will live stream a group of the soft-shelled bugs through Monday evening. According to The Los Angeles Times, the channel launched the stream to promote its "Swarm Chasers" and "Cicada Invaders 2013? shows, which premiered on Sunday night. Nevertheless, you can see the bugs crawl around a terrarium that's been decorated with a model of the Capitol building.

According to National Geographic , the species spends much of its early life underground. When the cicadas emerge after two to 17 years, they latch onto trees and within a week shed their nymph exoskeleton. Without the skin, they have stronger wings. The male cicada makes the loud, buzzing sound to woo the female. There are more than 1,500 cicada species but only the magicicada septendecim species arrives every 17 years.

Live video by Animal Planet L!ve