Cicadas 2021 map: Where are the Brood X insects now?
BILLIONS of cicada nymphs that have been living underground since 2004 are bursting out of the soil, shedding their skin, mate while, laying eggs.
The periodical insects typically underground.
Nearly 3,400 species of cicadas exist worldwide, but periodical cicadas - that - are unique to states in the east of the US.
After that, it is up to them to try and survive that vulnerable stage before they become dinner to a host of critters including ants, birds, dogs and cats.
Entomologist Michael Raupp said: "They’re going to try to best everything on the planet that wants to eat them during this critical period of the nighttime.
"They’re just trying to shed that skin, get their wings, go up into the treetops, escape their predators.”
According to the experts, cicadas are emerging in , New York, Maryland, , , North Carolina, , , , Tennessee, , , Georgia, and .
However, scientists said that not all of these states will see large numbers of cicadas surfacing from the underground because they tend to appear and stay near the places where their ancestors previously emerged and reproduced.
For instance, some cities and towns that saw cicadas in 2004 or during one of the past 17-year cycles are likely to see them emerging again at the same places.
The Brood X will appear in the Princeton area of Mercer County, according to experts.
How loud will they be?
Large groups of cicadas can make noise as loud as 90 decibels— similar to a loud lawnmower, according to experts.
The level of sound has been likened to “the whining of electrical wires rising and falling”.
However, people can hear them this loud only if they are close to those large groups, for instance, standing directly under a tree where many cicadas are found.
According to scientists, only male cicadas make all that noise to attract a mate to reproduce.
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Experts refer to those noises as “singing” and each species of the Brood X cicadas has a different tune. This is how they find a mate of the same species.
In general, the creatures create a high-pitched buzzing sound,” says Angela Tucker, Ph.D., a board-certified entomologist.