Do you like cicadas? Well, 2024 is the year for you!
It’s not unusual to see a few cicadas every year, filling the trees with their obnoxious buzzing. Most cicadas come out every year during the summer. They emerge from underneath the ground and live openly until the summer comes to an end in early August. Most people don’t mind these insects, if there’s not too many of them. Everyone will be in for a sweet surprise in 2024 when Brood XIX and Brood XIII will infect the air, and begin being an invasive species.
Cicadas are quite interesting. Most of them come out every year, but there are breeds that plant their eggs in the ground and wait years for them to hatch. In specific, Brood XIX emerges every 13 years, and Brood XIII emerges every 17 years. In mid-May 2024, the two broods line up in dates and will come out at the same time. It’s the first time this is happened in over 200 years, the last one occurring in 1803. Brood XIX is set to rise in 14 states across the Southeast and Midwest, and brood XIII will emerge in 5 Midwestern states, so look out Midwest! According to NBC News, there will be anywhere from 50,000 cicadas per acre to 1.5 million cicadas per acre.
Stephanie Vega, a witness of the last Brood XIX merge and former student at Morton West, is feeling tense about the new uprising. She remembers the events like it was yesterday. “It was pretty soon before my 11th birthday. I remember my mom telling me that I had to stay home a couple of days because the cicadas were so bad.” Vega couldn’t enjoy herself much the summer before fifth grade, before getting swarmed by cicadas. She explains that she wasn’t the only one staying inside either. Many of her friends were doing the same thing she was; hiding inside and waiting for the cicadas to go away is not a great time to be a kid.
Chad Perry, an expert on cicadas, helps to give a better understanding of the situation happening. “Annual cicadas usually have a 3-4 year life cycle. A few of them come out every year, which is why we always hear a couple of cicadas. Periodical cicadas come out after many, many years, like the 13 and 17 year old cicadas.” It’s not rare to see or hear a few cicadas every year, but Perry explains that he feels excited for this summer. Regardless of his excitement though, this is a time to be alert and aware of one’s surroundings.
With May inching forward, it’s important to become educated with the cicadas coming forward. It’s better to be warned than be oblivious.
