Hear that buzz? Why this cicada season will be different from the next 12
This may be the most cicadas you'll see until 2037.
This may be the most cicadas you'll see until 2037.
This may be the most cicadas you'll see until 2037.
This season of cicadas may be the last time you鈥檒l see the singing insects in such big numbers for the next several years.
Across the eastern U.S., a large group of cicadas has emerged from the ground to finish their 17-year lifecycle. The cicadas began emerging in late April and span from northern Georgia to Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
While the group is not as big as last year鈥檚, this will likely be the largest group of cicadas the U.S. will see until 2037, according to University of Connecticut professor John Cooley.
In future years, there will still be cicadas, just in smaller quantities.
The group of cicadas that emerged this year is called Brood XIV. They are a 17-year periodical cicada, so the last time they emerged was in 2008.
Those cicadas 鈥� whose carcasses litter your backyards and parks 鈥� were the same cicadas observed in 1634 by pilgrims, according to research by Gene Kritsky, professor emeritus of biology at Mount St. Joseph University.
Not all the cicadas spotted this year will be from Brood XIV. Some cicadas, which are part of different broods, can emerge a couple of years earlier or later than they are supposed to.
There are also annual cicadas that emerge every year in later months, often in July and August. While there will be no periodical cicada emerging next year, there will still be annual cicadas.
Kritsky runs an app called 鈥淐icada Safari鈥� that crowdsources cicada sightings. Anyone can upload photos of cicadas they find in their local area, and it鈥檚 one of the most up-to-date logs of where cicadas have emerged this year.
So far, the insects have been spotted in over 15 states.
Deforestation and urbanization are the main threats to cicadas. The insects depend on trees for every stage of their life cycle.
When the 17-year cicadas emerge, they stay above ground for about a month. Toward the end of the first week and during the second, males will gather in trees in large groups to sing. Male and female cicadas meet during the second and third weeks, and then the females lay eggs during the third and fourth weeks.
Once they've reproduced, they die.
The eggs that were left in trees then become nymphs who jump out of the branches and fall to the ground. Those nymphs will crawl into cracks in the ground and feed on the top levels of soil. Over 17 years the nymphs grow, dig deeper in the soil and start feeding on tree roots.
Cicadas are an important part of the food web. Their emergence becomes a buffet-style feast for nearby predators, and when they die, their carcasses release nutrients that fertilize the soil.
Three different species of cicadas can be found in Brood XIV 鈥� Magicicada septendecim, Magicicada cassini and Magicicada septendecula.
Septendecim are the large ones, Cassini are medium, and Septendecula are the smallest.
Septendecim goes the farthest north and is the species found on Long Island, New York, and Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Cassini are found in the mountains of Tennessee and are more common in the southwest. Septendecula are more common in North Carolina, Kentucky and the southeast.
Below are 3-D models that show the differences between the three species and the differences between male and female cicadas. The presence and size of orange stripes on their underbodies is the clearest way to tell species apart.