Billions of periodical cicadas are expected to emerge in the United States this spring and summer in an insect event that hasn’t occurred in more than 200 years.
For the first time since 1803, two different broods of cicadas will emerge in more than a dozen states, mating and laying millions more eggs, starting in May.
Giant insects hibernate in groups in cycles of 13 or 17 years.
Although cicadas are harmless to humans and animals, their loud calls and large numbers often draw the ire of locals for a month or two while they are active, including in South Carolina, where the noises have sparked enough concern that the Newberry County Sheriff’s Office released them. a statement on social media.
Find out where else the broods, which can create sounds as loud as jet engines, will emerge by checking the map below.
The infestation is expected in 16 states, with some states like Illinois and Indiana seeing both groups around the same time.
The red-eyed and winged insects hibernate in 13- or 17-year cycles, but the state will soon be teeming with both — and experts have predicted there will be a million of them per acre of land.
Infesting 16 states, the two broods emerging in 2024 are Brood XIX, also known as the Great Southern Brood, and Brood XIII, called the Northern Illinois Brood.
Brood XIX last appeared in 2011 and is expected to air in parts of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi , Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
The other group, Brood XIII, has a 17-year cycle and last emerged in 2007.
It is expected to reappear in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin.
Each brood actually consists of various species of cicadas – three in the northern Illinois brood and four in the large southern brood.
While that should be fine, a Tennessee Tech University professor warned that the infestation would likely result in hundreds, if not thousands, of trees being “damaged beyond repair.”
Cicadas do not carry diseases, but create slits in tree branches to lay their eggs.
Therefore, experts predict that forested areas, including urban green spaces, will experience greater infestation than agricultural regions.
Dr. Gene Kritsky, professor, entomologist and cicada expert at Mount St. Joseph University, told DailyMail.com: “Double emergence is one in two or three lifetime events.
“This happens 12 times every 221 years, but this is the first time since 1803 that these broods have emerged together.”
As early as mid-April, cicadas emerge from the ground when the soil reaches a temperature of 64 degrees Fahrenheit at a depth of 12 to 18 inches.
Soil temperature acts as a signal to cicadas, letting them know that the outside world is optimal for their survival – but cold is not a cicada killer.
“We need two or three days above 80 degrees for the ground to reach 64 degrees,” Kritsky said.
“Cicadas have receptors that are triggered when temperatures rise.”
He went on to explain that it will take about two more weeks for all the adult insects to emerge and the public will experience the infestation for about six weeks.
The soil will first need to reach the ideal temperature of 64 degrees Fahrenheit at a depth of 12 to 18 inches in the soil before the insects emerge. Soil temperature acts as a signal to cicadas, letting them know that the outside world is optimal for their survival.
Both broods should live for about a month
One thing that makes these creatures so interesting is their ability to harden their exoskeletons, which takes about five days, and shed them in order to fly.
Kritsky added that the insects act as natural gardeners for mature trees by digging holes in the branches the size of a human finger.
“This provides natural ventilation in summer and allows rain to infiltrate the ground and trees,” he explained.
“However, a new sapling will be killed. When females lay eggs in the branches of young trees, insects sometimes weaken that branch.
“The branch will hang there and the leaves will turn brown, which is called dieback.”
“I saw a young plantation of an oak tree. The cicadas were all over the branches and each branch was weakening. The tree died of starvation.
Cicadas prefer specific trees like oak, maple, and certain fruit trees like cherry and pear, and keen gardeners are advised to wrap the branches of young trees in netting if they want to keep the insects away.
Insects are also attracted to younger trees because of their diameter.
People who have recently planted trees can wrap the branches in netting to keep cicadas away.
“In general, mature trees may experience minor damage from cicadas,” according to Davey, a professional tree service company based in Ohio.
“Young trees, however, may experience canopy loss and reduced photosynthesis due to their limited number of branches.”
There are more than 3,000 known species of cicadas.
Cicadas form 15 major cicada “broods” in different geographic areas.
These insects emerge from the ground in droves, and some years see billions of cicadas in a season.
One thing that makes these creatures so interesting is their ability to harden their exoskeletons, which takes about five days, and shed them in order to fly.
Kritsky said cicadas can create an unpleasant odor.
“As soon as they start coming out of the ground, people shout, ‘They’re going to kill my trees,’ and then they wonder what that smell is.”
The smell appears when the insects die and the decomposition process sets in.
Loud signs are performed only by males to attract a mate.
After his mating call, he captures a female, the pair mate and the female lays her eggs in the tree.
The nymphs then give up and burrow underground to begin their own hibernation – and the cycle begins again.
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