--- description: Reporter is ambushed by cicadas during her stand up at Fort Riley near Topeka Kansas title: Watch This Reporter Freak Out When Cicadas Attack Her image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch This Reporter Freak Out When Cicadas Attack Her  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Jun 11, 2015 8:40 PM CUT  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Jun 11, 2015 8:40 PM CUT Even though [KSNT reporter](http://ksnt.com/2015/06/10/when-cicadas-attack-ksnt-reporter/ "undefined") Katya Leick was recording her stand-up from a tank at Fort Riley near Topeka, Kansas, surrounded by Army personnel in fatigues, it seemed like nothing could protect her from an ambush of pestering cicadas. In video that, fortunately for Leick, was not live, she can be seen swatting the insects away and shrieking when they stuck to her face. Also fortunately for Leick — and anyone else who ends up in this situation — [experts say the insects are harmless](http://science.time.com/2013/06/01/7-things-you-didnt-know-about-cicadas/slide/theyre-not-stinging-theyre-just-trying-to-eat-you/ "undefined"). _Read next:_ [_7 Things You Didn’t Know About Cicadas_](http://science.time.com/2013/06/01/7-things-you-didnt-know-about-cicadas/ "undefined") ### Tiny Beauties: Life's Smallest Wonders As Seen Through a Microscope  Honorable Mention: Proboscis of a blowfly. Michael Gibson—Olympus Bioscapes  Honorable Mention: Adult mouse cerebral cortex. Dr. Claudia Barros—Olympus Bioscapes  Honorable Mention: Black beetle. Pekka Honkakoski—Olympus Bioscapes  Honorable mention: Tracheae of a silkworm. Michael Gibson—Olympus Bioscapes  Honorable mention (Video Still): Axons in a mouse brainstem. Dr. Ali Ertürk—Olympus Bioscapes  Honorable Mention: Anemone flower. Masoumeh "Sahar" Khodaverdi—Olympus Bioscapes  Honorable Mention: Chick embryonic kidney. Dr. Poulomi Ray—Olympus Bioscapes  Honorable Mention: Tip of the proboscis of a Viceroy butterfly. Dr. Matthew S. Lehnert and Catherine P. Mulvane—Olympus Bioscapes  Honorable mention (Video Still): Cell division, movements and cytoplasmic streaming of the desmid Euastrum oblongum. Dr. Jens Hallfeldt—Olympus Bioscapes  Honorable Mention: Placental vasculature of a transgenic mouse embryo. Amanda Phillips-Yzaguirre—Olympus Bioscapes  10th Place (Video Still): Paramecium, showing contactile vacuole and ciliary motion. Ralph Grimm—Olympus Bioscapes  9th Place: Head and legs of a caddisfly larva. Fabrice Parais—Olympus Bioscapes  8th Place: Mouse tail stained for the K15 (green) hair follicle stem cell marker as well as Ki67 (red), which marks proliferating cells. Dr. Yaron Fuchs—Olympus Bioscapes  7th Place: Phantom midge larva (Chaoborus). Charles Krebs—Olympus Bioscapes  6th Place: Gonocerus acuteangulatus, two hours old. Kurt Wirz—Olympus Bioscapes  5th Place: Mouse embryonic fibroblasts showing the actin filaments (red) and DNA (blue). Dr. Dylan Burnette—Olympus Bioscapes  4th Place: Stained transverse section of a lily flower bud. Spike Walker—Olympus Bioscapes  3rd Place: A composite image showing a collection of single-cell fresh water algae, desmids. Dr. Igor Siwanowicz—Olympus Bioscapes  2nd Place: A lateral view of a black mastiff bat embryo (Molossus rufus). Dorit Hockman—Olympus Bioscapes  1st Place: Open trap of aquatic carnivorous plant, humped bladderwort (Utricularia gibba). Dr. Igor Siwanowicz—Olympus Bioscapes ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3918246/cicadas-reporter/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3918246/cicadas-reporter/"},"headline":"Watch This Reporter Freak Out When Cicadas Attack Her","datePublished":"2015-06-11T20:40:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:47:25.684Z","description":"There has been a lot of buzz about this video","url":"https://time.com/3918246/cicadas-reporter/","keywords":["Newsfeed","animals"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. Waxman","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3918246/cicadas-reporter/","name":"Watch This Reporter Freak Out When Cicadas Attack Her"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Florida's Everglades: The 5 Worst Invasive Species","description":"Florida's Everglades is ground zero for the issue of invasive Species. Here are 5 of the worst","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/OTAC142S/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-07-09T18:04:14.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/OTAC142S.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3918246/cicadas-reporter/","duration":"PT4M40S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3918246/cicadas-reporter/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```