Trillions of periodical cicadas are expected to emerge across the U.S. this spring and summer in an insect event that hasn’t happened in more than 200 years.
For the first time since 1803, two different broods of crickets will emerge from May in more than a dozen states, mate and lay millions more eggs.
The giant insects hibernate as groups in cycles of 13 or 17 years.
Although the crickets are harmless to humans and animals, their loud screams and large numbers often anger locals during the month or two they are active, including in South Carolina, where the sounds have caused enough concern for Newberry County Sheriff’s Office to release a statement on social media.
Find out where else the broods, which can produce sounds as loud as jet engines, will emerge by looking at the map below.
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Contagion is planned for 16 states, with some states like Illinois and Indiana seeing both groups around the same time
The red-eyed winged insects hibernate in 13- or 17-year cycles, but the state will soon be abuzz with both — and experts have predicted there will be a million of them per acre of land
The two broods that will emerge in 2024, affecting 16 states, are Brood XIX, also known as the Great Southern Brood, and Brood XIII, also known as the Northern Illinois Brood.
Brood
The other group, Brood XIII, has a 17-year cycle and last emerged in 2007.
It will reappear in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin.
Each brood is actually made up of several species of cicadas – three in the Northern Illinois Brood and four in the Great Southern Brood.
While all should go well, a professor at Tennessee Tech University warned that the blight will likely leave hundreds, if not thousands, of trees “irreparably damaged.”
Cicadas do not transmit diseases, but they make crevices in tree branches to lay their eggs.
Experts have therefore predicted that forested areas, including urban green areas, will see greater infestation than agricultural regions.
Dr. Gene Kritsky, a professor, entomologist and cicada expert at Mount St. Joseph University, told DailyMail.com: ‘The double emergence occurs one in two or three life events.
“This happens 12 times in 221 years, but this is the first time since 1803 that these broods have emerged together.”
As early as mid to late April, crickets emerge from underground when the soil reaches a temperature of 64 degrees Fahrenheit at a depth of 12 to 20 inches.
Soil temperatures act as a signal to cicadas, letting them know that the outside world is optimal for survival – but cold is not a cicada killer.
“We need two or three days above 80 degrees before the ground reaches 64 degrees,” Kritsky said.
‘Cicadas have receptors that are activated when the temperature warms.’
He further explained that it will take about two more weeks for all the adult insects to emerge and the public will experience the infestation for about six weeks.
The soil will first need to reach the perfect temperature of 64 degrees Fahrenheit at a depth of 12 to 18 inches in the ground before the insects emerge. Soil temperatures act as a signal to crickets, letting them know that the outside world is optimal for survival
The two broods are expected to live for about a month
One thing that makes these creatures so interesting is the ability to harden their exoskeletons, which takes about five days, and shed them in order to fly.
Kritsky added that the insects act as natural gardeners for mature trees by cutting holes in branches the size of human fingers.
“That provides natural aeration in the summer and allows rain to seep into the soil and trees,” he explained.
“However, a new sapling will be killed. When females lay eggs in branches of saplings, the insects sometimes weaken that branch.
‘The branch will hang there and the leaves will turn brown in a so-called waving.
‘I saw a young planting of an oak tree. There were crickets all over the branches and every branch was flagging. The tree died of hunger.”
Cicadas prefer specific trees such as oak, maple and some fruit trees such as cherry and pear, with avid gardeners advised to wrap the branches of young trees in mesh if they want to keep the insects at bay.
Due to the diameter, the insects are also attracted to younger trees.
People who have recently planted trees can wrap the branches in mesh to keep the crickets at bay.
“In general, mature trees can sustain minor damage from crickets,” according to Davey, a professional tree service company based in Ohio.
‘However, young trees may experience leaf loss and a reduction in photosynthesis due to their limited number of branches.’
More than 3,000 species of crickets are known.
The crickets form 15 large ‘broods’ of crickets in different geographical areas.
These insects emerge from the ground in large numbers, with some years seeing trillions of crickets per season.
One thing that makes these creatures so interesting is the ability to harden their exoskeletons, which takes about five days, and shed them in order to fly.
Kritsky said cicadas can cause an unpleasant odor.
“As soon as they come out of the ground, people scream, ‘They’re going to kill my trees,’ and then you wonder what that smell is.”
The smell is created as the insects die and the rotting process begins.
The loud gesture is only done by men as a way to attract a mate.
After the mating call captures a female, the pair mates and the female lays eggs in the tree.
The nymphs then fall away and burrow underground to begin their own hibernation – and the cycle begins again.