NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Right on cue, trillions of cicadas are emerging in the U.S. as ‘cicada-geddon’ begins.
The bugs have already made appearances across Illinois, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Wisconsin, North Carolina and South Carolina, and are expected to bombard even more states into the summer.
Cicadas, while harmless, are known for their singing and chirping, which only seem to get louder by the day. So loud, in fact, that residents have called the police to report the alarming sounds.
When will it all stop? It largely depends on where you live.
Karla Addesso, a research associate professor of Entomology at Tennessee State University, said the first peak is happening now. This is when the bugs are swarming and the loudest. The males, who use their song to look for a mate, have come out of the ground, meaning the “waking up” period is ending.
The males usually die after mating and the females start “flagging,” or slicing little slits into tree branches to lay eggs. You may start to notice brown tips on young tree branches as a result — officials say you can protect against this by adding netting to your trees.
You’ll continue to hear and see the cicadas until they return to the ground. Since the entire process takes a few weeks, the cicadas could disappear in early June in areas like Missouri. In Tennessee, this is expected around late June. Cicadas have only just started to emerge in Wisconsin, which means it may take until well into July before they quiet down in the state.
After this initial wave of cicadas, part of the 13-year Brood XIX, some states will see cicadas of the 17-year Brood XIII emerge, making for a long summer of cicada songs.
Researchers say cicadas tend to be louder on warm, sunny, dry days with a calm wind. Certain activities, like mowing the lawn, may attract the bugs to you. According to Addesso, the vibrations and sounds are similar to the signals males make to the females.