James Smith
The cicadas are coming back by the trillions in the USA this year – a synchronized emergency that begins when the earth reaches a precise 64 degrees. Buzzing insects have It’s already out in some places.
Where will cicadas emerge in 2024?
Two broods of cicadas are emerging at the same time this year, meaning the U.S. will see more cicadas than usual.
Litter XIXwhich comes out every 13 years, will appear in the Southeast in Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.
Litter XIIIwhich comes out every 17 years, will be seen in the Midwest, mainly in Illinois and Iowa.
Cicadas live underground for most of their lives, and at the end of their 13- or 17-year cycles, they emerge, fly into trees, molt, mate, and then die. Their babies then fall to the ground and burrow into the earth as they await the next emergency.
They only come out at the end of the cycle, when the dirt reaches 64 degrees. This is expected to happen in May or June in most places, according to Ken Johnson, a horticulture educator at the University of Illinois. But some states warm more quickly than others — and have already seen the emergence of cicadas.
Videos show where cicadas have appeared
Near the Georgia-South Carolina border on April 25, CBS News national correspondent Dave Malkoff found thousands of cicadas filling the air with their distinctive, loud buzzing. Some have been seen shedding their skin or shedding their skin on a tree trunk.
“It takes them a while to turn into full adult bodies,” Malkoff said, holding up a cicada. “They have to dry out and then they get their wings.”
A small portion of Illinois will see the convergence of Brood XIX and Brood XIII this year.
In Champaign, Illinois, last week, CBS News’ Maddy Weirus went searching for nymphs — or baby cicadas — with University of Illinois entomologist Katie Dana. They dug into the ground and managed to collect samples of small cicadas.
In some of the southern states where cicadas are expected to occur, people have reported them appearing.
Marie Gruss Sherr captured several videos of cicadas in Durham, North Carolina. Most of them were sitting on plants.
Cicadas are often confused with grasshoppers, which eat plants. Instead, cicadas obtain their nutrients from small twigs. Most trees, however, will remain unharmed.
In Georgia, near Lake Oconee, a cicada watcher captured the buzzing the insects emit as they emerge.
Male cicadas make a loud buzzing sound to attract female cicadas, who in turn flap their wings to signal that they are available to mate.
Last week, cicadas were making so much noise that they confused residents of Newberry County, South Carolina. called the sheriff’s department to ask why they heard a “noise in the air that sounds like a siren, or a groan, or a roar.” The department assured residents that it was just male cicadas trying to mate.
How long do cicadas live?
After emerging from their 13- or 17-year underground slumber, cicadas have a relatively short lifespan. About five days after emerging, they begin to mate, with females laying their eggs on woody plants, using their ovipositor, or egg-laying organ. They inject about 10 to 20 eggs into the branches and can produce about 500 to 600 eggs per season, according to Johnson.
The eggs hatch about six weeks after they are laid, but their parents die shortly after the mating process, only lasting about a month above ground.
Caitlin O’Kane
