The Cicadas Are Coming

The onset of the Spring season means the return of warmer temperatures. However, this year, the warmth comes with a price for parts of the Ohio Valley and East. The Brood X Cicada species will be emerging from the ground for the first time in 17 years!

The Brood X Cicada species resides in many states, including Indiana, parts of the Ohio Valley into the Mid-Atlantic north into eastern New York. They can even be found as far south as Georgia. The majority of the Brood X cicadas have residence in the Mid-Atlantic. For the past 17 years, the cicadas have been hibernating beneath the ground, but in the not-so-distant future, the cicadas will emerge.

Most cicadas come above the surface when the soil temperature reaches the low to mid 60s, which usually happens around mid-May, depending on the weather. Once the cicadas emerge, they will stick around for about 6 weeks and should be gone again by the end of June.

So how many cicadas will there be flying around? The answer is quite a lot. In fact, there can be up to 1 million cicadas per acre of land! To put this in perspective, the average lawn in the U.S. is a quarter of an acre, so there can be as many as 250,000 cicadas on your property.

With the large number of cicadas, you may also be wondering if they are dangerous. Fortunately, cicadas cannot bite, or sting and they are largely harmless to most plants and trees. The only exception is that very young trees and shrubs can be damaged by the weight of the eggs female cicadas lay on small branches.

You’ll know when the cicadas arrive not only by sight, but also by sound. The male cicadas make noise to attract the females and with up to 1 million cicadas per acre, they will be loud! The brood emerging late this spring tend to sound like a muffled car alarm. This buzzing noise can be expected from mid-May through June as long as the cicadas stick around. The good news--- they usually only make noise during the day, so they won’t keep you awake overnight.

Don’t be surprised later this Spring when the Brood X cicadas emerge! While the insects may look intimidating, they really are more of a nuisance than anything else.

Sources: umd.edu, msj.edu
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Story Image: The Brood X Cicada is pictured from 2004 and will emerge later this Spring (Wikimedia Commons/Veracious Rey).