Although cicada sightings are certainly on the rise in the Chicago area, some residents of the area’s suburbs have reported not seeing any.
It’s true that emergence has been uneven across the region, with some suburbs seeing massive amounts and others almost none.
So where have they been seen the most? And the least?
A map of cicadas that tracks sightings across the United States shows that some of the most frequent sightings have been reported in suburbs west of Chicago, particularly near the Downers Grove area. The Oak Park area also saw a higher number of sightings, as well as some southern suburbs around the Palos Park and Park Forest areas and northern suburbs like Lake Forest and Highland Park.
The Cicada Safari Map, an app created by Dr. Gene Kritsky of Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati to track cicadas, allows residents and experts to submit photos of cicada sightings in their area. Once these images are verified by experts, the sighting is marked on the map.
But while several suburbs are reporting an influx of cicadas, some parts of the region are reporting almost none, particularly in the northwest suburbs.
A large area on the map shows no reports for areas like Elgin, Barrington, Huntley, Hoffman Estates and more. Some northern locations like Grayslake and Round Lake Beach also reported no sightings.
So why did some people see more than others?
Experts have long predicted that emergence would be uneven.
“You have to keep in mind that they only emerge from the subtree,” Kritsky told NBC Chicago in February. “And so, if you’re in a forested area and they’ve already laid eggs there, it could be quite dense. But in many cases, we find that these cicada emergences are relatively patchy. Clear-cutting forests for l agriculture, clear-cutting forests for urban development – all of this reduces cicada nesting sites.
Chicago also warned that the emergence would likely be more visible in neighborhoods with older homes.
“New construction and soil excavation destroys cicada larvae, and several 17-year cycles are required for them to recover. Therefore, communities with older homes may have more cicadas because the soil with insect larvae has not been disturbed,” a notice from the ministry. said the Bureau of Streets and Forest Sanitation in an alert in April.
Some could still emerge in parts of the region. Cicadas typically emerge from the ground once the soil temperature 8 inches below the surface reaches at least 64 degrees.
Beyond that, the card’s data is limited to the submissions it receives. Kritsky said that as of Monday, at least 40,000 applications had been received for this year’s emergence.
Cicadas have a lifespan of about four weeks, meaning emergence should last until at least mid-June.
The historic emergence of 2024 involves two broods of cicadas – Brood XIII and Brood XIX – emerging simultaneously. These two broods of cicadas of 13 and 17 years have not appeared together for over 220 years.
“It’s like the year of Illinois,” cicada expert Catherine Dana, affiliated with the Illinois Natural History Survey, told NBC Chicago. “We’re going to see cicadas emerge across the state.”
While much of Illinois will see at least one brood emerge, a narrow portion of central Illinois could see both. But there’s no way to know for sure just by looking at cicadas, Kritsky said. The only way to know will be to check the area in 13 and 17 years to see if cicadas are emerging from each brood.
NBC Chicago
