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Millions of cicada bugs as loud as ‘lawnmowers’ will emerge from US soil for first time in 221 years
For the first time in more than two centuries, the two largest broods of periodical Cicada will emerge from the soil. Dubbed ‘Big Cicada Year’, Spring 2024 will see millions of bugs, mostly harmless, fly around the country to mate.
2024 is ‘Biggest Cicada Year’ since 1803
This spring, two of the largest periodical cicada broods – XIII and XIX – will emerge from underground, looking to mate. They spend most of their lives buried in the soil and only come out to mate once every 17 and 13 years respectively.
The myth holds that the presence of millions of these bugs is a “bad omen” and is believed to be unlucky for the forthcoming presidential elections, but they are mostly harmless if you aren’t bothered by their loud “singing” to attract mating partners.
In 2024, both broods will emerge simultaneously, which is why it is being referred to as a “simultaneous explosion of bugs” on social media.
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The “next co-emergence of any type” will not happen for another 13 years, according to the official website dedicated to studying the cicada movement.
Millions of bugs will fly across U.S.
While only two states – Illinois and Iowa – will see the periodical broods emerge together, the bugs will be seen in other states too.
The 17-year-brood XIII will emerge in Iowa and Wisconsin, while XIX, a 13-year-brood, will emerge simultaneously in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.
Their loud mating call can be a menace as it reaches as high as 100 decibels; this is as loud as lawnmowers, subway trains, and forklifts, notes Forbes.
Protect your garden and produce
Although cicadas don’t bite humans or pets, nor do they eat many crops, they can lay an overwhelmingly large number of eggs, as many as 400 at a time, which young trees and plants may struggle to hold.
Therefore, you are advised to have a safety net over young shrubs or any other plant to simply prevent the bugs from laying eggs on them. While the male cicadas die soon after mating, the females die only after laying eggs.
When the last “cicada mania” occurred in 2021, with billions of brood X emerging across 15 U.S. states, there were so many shell casings left behind by the dead bugs that people are said to have collected them in buckets.
The last major occurrence was marked by a cicada chocolate chip ice cream in New Jersey, developed by Gabriella Carbone.
“This is extra special for us because the ‘Brood X’ last emerged in 2004, the year we opened our store in Princeton. We wanted to do something special this year, so it was so nice to have the opportunity,” the shop owner said.
Gabriella noted that to call it a “popular” snack would be an understatement as her shop sold five gallons in under an hour.
