Cicadas, those strange, noisy, and harmless insects, are emerging from underground again this year in parts of this country.  Parts of 15 states will see billions of Brood X 17-year cicadas emerge in May or June. The Brood X is emerging in parts of Ohio, but shouldn’t affect our local area.  However, if you are traveling you may see or hear the swarms of mating cicadas.

Cicada Facts

• Look for cicadas to peak in late May and June.
• Their lifespan is four to six weeks above ground, and they’ll begin to die off in late June and into July.
• But there may be a few stragglers that linger far into the summer.
• Remember, they don’t all emerge at once — so we’re not talking four weeks and done.
• If the weather is consistently warm and dry, that could mean cicadas will finish mating sooner than later.
• They’ll be mostly gone by mid-July.
• When they arrive, they will annoy you with their song, but they will help aerate your lawn.

Overall, this large emergence will affect the District of Columbia and at least parts of these 15 states:

• Delaware
• Georgia
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Kentucky
• Maryland
• Michigan
• New Jersey
• New York
• North Carolina
• Ohio
• Pennsylvania
• Tennessee
• Virginia
• West Virginia

Residents in several Pennsylvania counties have a chance to be a part of this ecological phenomenon that only occurs once every 17 years. According to cicadamania.com, Brood X cicadas have been known to turn up in Pennsylvania in Adams, Bedford, Berks, Bucks, Chester, Columbia, County, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Lancaster, Lehigh, Luzerne, Lycoming, Mercer, Montgomery, Northampton, Perry, Schuylkill, Somerset and York counties.

In Ohio, the counties of Defiance, Franklin, Greene, Hamilton, Logan and Montgomery will be most likely affected.  For more detail, view the prospective map here.

Click the links below to read more articles about cicadas

The Cicadas Are Coming: How to prep your lawn, trees and yard for Brood X.
https://www.cnet.com/home/yard-and-outdoors/the-cicadas-are-coming-how-to-prep-your-lawn-trees-and-yard-for-brood-x/

Brood X cicadas map: Where you will find them in 2021.
https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2021/05/06/brood-x-cicadas-map-what-states/4946803001/

The Cicadas Are Coming. Let’s Eat Them! Why not embrace Brood X as the free-range, sustainable source of protein that it truly is?
https://www.wired.com/story/eating-cicadas-brood-x/

Brood X is almost here. Billions of cicadas to emerge in eastern US.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/16/world/brood-x-cicada-2021-scn/index.html

Where in Pennsylvania are you most likely to see cicadas?
https://www.pennlive.com/life/2021/05/where-in-pennsylvania-are-you-most-likely-to-see-cicadas.html

Available Library Books

Click to see books and eBooks that are available at PLYMC from this Topic Guide list.

More Cicada Fun

Check out these photos of cicadas in fun poses!