Cicadas incoming: Billions to emerge in double-brood invasion
Billions of cicadas are set to pop out of the ground in May and June in a rare synchronized emergence of two broods.
Tens of billions of noisy cicadas are set to pop out of the ground in the coming weeks in a rare synchronized event that last occurred 221 years ago.
The winged insects are expected to appear across the Midwest and Southeast starting early May, in a double emergence of two different broods of periodical cicadas. These bugs spend a fixed number of years underground before coming to the surface to take part in a raucous mating ritual.
This year’s emergence is expected to be unusually large, with some experts estimating that more than a trillion cicadas could blanket parts of the country where the two broods overlap.
Cicadas are harmless to humans, though some people find the sheer number of insects and their loud mating songs a nuisance.
For bug enthusiasts, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience the two cicada broods emerging together, given that it last occurred in 1803, when Thomas Jefferson was president.
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