Posted on 06/01/2025 12:18:27 PM PDT by Morgana
Hundreds of billions of screaming insects are emerging from the ground throughout the US in a jarring sight that hasn't taken place in 17 years.
The long-awaited cicada invasion is here, and the bugs have already been spotted hatching in at least three states: Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.
Scientists are also expecting billions more to emerge at any moment in Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia.
This startling awakening of cicadas is referred to as Brood XIV. The insects last appeared in 2008, and now the next window in their synchronized life cycle has come again.
The cicadas are hatching as the soil in these states reaches a temperature of about 64° Fahrenheit. The swarm will reach its peak in early June.
Heavily infested areas with plenty of tree-covered land will likely see more than a million bugs per acre.
While entomologists (scientists studying insects) say these creatures are harmless, their sheer numbers often frighten people who see these massive broods and hear their loud, shrieking mating calls.
For those who can't stand the sight of them, there's an app for that, and scientists are now giving everyone the ability to track (and avoid) Brood XIV's emergence.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
I went through 2 of the cycles of the big boys when I lived on the east coast. It was impressive.
Hi neighbor, I went to Hinsdale High.
That was really a long timre ago. Live in Spokane now.
We got the cicadas, all right. They started coming up in my neighborhood a week ago, and it seems that when May became June, they got several decibels louder. In Kentucky, we are calling Brood XIV the “Bourbon Brood.” Fortunately I’m not bothered, because I used to live in Florida. There cicadas don’t live underground for 13 or 17 years; they come up every summer.
Why does the press try to make every periodic, predictable event sound apocalyptic? In the UK, 25°C (77°F) is seen as sweltering heat.
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