News Brief by Kip Hansen – 1 April 2021
If you thought the latest zombie movie was scary, check out this headline from The New York Times:
Billions (Yes, Billions) of Cicadas Soon to Emerge From Underground
Swarms of cicadas, part of a group called Brood X, are expected to appear in 18 states in the next few weeks, just in time to help orchestrate the soundtrack of summer. [ source ]
That’s right, billions with a capital B, Billions of these lovely creatures will soon be climbing up the trunks of your trees and bushes and settling in to create maddeningly loud noise, all night long. That is if you happen to be lucky enough to live in one of the fourteen (some say 18) Eastern States of the U.S. where Brood X (that’s the Roman Numeral “X”, as in ten, not as in Gen X) of the 17-year cicada. Specifically “Brood X contains three species, Magicicada septendecim, Magicicada cassinii and Magicicada septendecula, that congregate on different trees and have different male songs. The brood’s most recent major emergence occurred during the spring of 2004.” [ source ]
Where are we going to see this rather incredible natural phenomenon?
This map is general, and marks a whole state even if just a small portion of the state is expected to have an emergence of Brood X.
The BBC provides this video on cicada emergence:
In answer to a few common questions:
- Do cicadas bite or sting? No, they are mostly harmless.
- Will the cicadas damage my trees? If you have an extreme infestation, maybe a little, but not much. The answer is different if you own an apple or other fruit orchard.
- Will they hurt my new fruit trees, bushes or my garden? “If you’re planting trees, wait until July. If your yard doesn’t get cicadas by the first week of June, it’s probably safe to plant in June. Otherwise, you can use netting to keep cicadas from laying eggs in the branches of fragile trees. It’s the egg-laying that does damage. They usually avoid garden and flowering plants because their stems aren’t strong enough for an egg nest.” [ source ]
- Should I spray them with insecticide? No, they will die in a few weeks anyway (generally only living as adults for 3-4 weeks).
- If I live in one of the states on the map, will my yard experience an emergence? Not necessarily, Brood X is very locale-specific and many states have them only in certain counties. Adults must have laid eggs in your trees, the nymphs later dropping to the ground and burrowing into your soil, all 17 years ago. If you had them in 2004, you will probably have them this year.
- Why only every 17-years? We don’t know. Some other cicada species have a 13-year cycle and others are annual.
So, what do adult cicadas do?
They are like college students, they only want to do one thing: mate. “Above ground, cicadas only live for a few weeks, during which they mate. The female cuts V-shaped slits in the bark of young twigs and lays about 20 eggs in each, for a total of 600 or more eggs. After approximately 6 to 10 weeks, the eggs will hatch and the nymphs will drop to the ground, burrowing into the ground to feed and develop for the next 13 to 17 years.” [ source ]
Having mated and laid their eggs, the adults die, restoring relative quiet to the land.
In support of the truism that “There is at least one dedicated web site for any topic you can think of (and for many topics that you could never even imagine)” the Cicada Mania site has more information about all-things-cicada, including Brood X t-shirts and mugs.
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Author’s Comment:
Nature comprises some rather odd things that we humans find hard or so-far-impossible to understand. The 13- and 17-year cycles of cicadas is one of those odd things. Don’t ask me, I simply have no idea. I don’t even have an opinion!
I do find it interesting. Not only that there is a 17-year periodical cicada, but that my local Brood X is made up of three different species, all with the same 17-year timing.
Happy April Fools’ Day – this one is real though – but the joke is on us. 17 years? Really?
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I remember the first time I ever saw a cicada emergence – I am guessing it was 1978 or 79 and I was living in central Maryland at the time. I went around with an old coffee can and picked up all the shed skins I could find, which were quite numerous on tree trunks. I must have kept about three dozen, and to this day I still have them (though not in the same coffee can). I also saved some from the 2004 brood, while also living here in Maryland. Not sure how many to expect where I live now (same county as 04′ but about 15 minutes away) as I’ve only lived here for about 5 years. We have lots of woods and trees so there may be a fair number.
Lee ==> Check back with us in June/July and tell us how many you got this year.
Will do!
Thanks for another interesting post, Kip. I am wondering about the maturation cycles (17, 13 and 1 year) you mentioned. When I was visiting Springfield, Missouri, on work assignment several years ago, the cicadas were out. Being from Vancouver, BC, I’d never heard them before and asked the friendly hotel staff about the interesting sounding insects. I was told they came there on a two year cycle, so I was lucky. Does the two year explanation sound correct? Just curious.
Thanks!
badEnglish
badEnglish ==> “Cicadas are divided into two main categories. Annual cicadas, whose lifecycle takes two to five years, appear every year. ” https://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/91895.html
Hey!
You didn’t explain how climate change will.make things worse!
Jon ==> My bad . . . . ?
Climate Change has made the harmless little things carboniverous?
like the bamboos that all flower globally every 100 yrs or so
and the jade plants that I have seen flower only once in my 60+yrs as well
oz ==> Nature has its odd-to-us timings.
In 1970’s Brood X outbreak, our house was the epicenter of the Brood X with dead cicada shells 6 inches under an old oak tree. During the latest outburst, 17 years ago, a dear friend visited us in the early evening mentioning how beautiful the flowers were and what kind of flower are they? (Cicadas are stark white after molting). So I gave her a pair of clippers to cut a few. The resounding shriek was not unexpected. She is still a friend thank goodness.
Charles K ==> Great story! Thanks.
I thought it was 7 years? Is there a species that has a 7 year cycle?
I remember about 7 or 8 years ago the cicada noise here in NC, I’ve been expecting them again this year.
TonyG ==> There is not a cicada in the US that has a seven year cycle.
I have lost my upper register of hearing…I hardly hear the ones around here anymore. In fact did not hear them at all last summer. I live in MN. They are a higher pitched cicada around here compared to other parts of the country where I have witnessed them being more of a ‘scratching, buzz’ rather than the high pitched buzz they do around these parts. I do love the sound, at least occasionally as they bring back fond memories of summer. When I was a kid, we were told it was the ‘wire’s buzzing on hot days! lol.
Cosmic ==> Ah, the memories of “summers when I was young.”
I Love to hear them when I am outside. They are natures symphony to me. But not so much on the road. A few years ago I ran into a swarm on I-70 east of Washington, PA that actually caused a traffic backup. They were everywhere. I could hear them in the big truck even with the windows up and dozens of them bouncing onto my windshield.
Other bugs that can cause a mess are the Love bugs down south and in Texas on I-35 south of San Antonio I ran into a mass movement of dragon flies that was so thick people were pulling over with overheated engines because the bugs had so clogged their radiators. Crickets also come in a swarm down that way sometimes.
rah ==> The joys of “over-abundant” Nature.