1. The big unearthing of cicada broods XIX and XIII will likely occur sometime in May and last several weeks.
2. During this time, male cicadas will produce a rather loud mating call to attract a female partner. They achieve this with “sound-producing structures” called tymbals on either side of the abdomen, according to CicadaSafari.org.
3. Some will become victim to predators, but the sheer number of cicadas make it next to impossible to wipe out an entire brood.
4. Females will die not long after laying their eggs. Males die shortly after mating.
5. The male's mating call can reach 100 decibels — a near-equivalent to a chainsaw or motorcycle. According to the CDC, news reports that highlight those sound comparisons alone can mislead people into believing the common myth that cicadas easily cause permanent hearing damage. The CDC says exposure duration and distance also matter.
People are also reading…
6. Adult cicadas do not bite or sting humans, nor do they carry disease. They can harm young trees during the egg-laying process, so families with young trees should loosely wrap branches with cheesecloth to prevent females from laying their eggs there.
7. Periodical cicada years are “quite beneficial” to the ecology of a region, according to CicadaSafari.org. Emergence tunnels act as a natural aeration of the soil, and the sheer volume of cicadas make quite the meal for all sorts of predators, positively impacting animal populations. “The females’ egg-laying in trees is a natural pruning of the trees that results in the tree producing more flowers and fruit in the following year. Finally, after the cicadas die, their decaying bodies contribute a massive amount of nitrogen and other nutrients to the soil,” according to CicadaSafari.org.
8. Periodical cicadas were first recorded by the Pilgrims at Plymouth Colony in 1634, but they were known to the Native Americans for centuries prior to European contact. Brood X was first reported in 1715 in Philadelphia.
9. Is your stomach rumbling? If you’re feeling adventurous, you should know cicadas are safe to eat — for most people. You can even find recipes online for tempura cicada with sriracha aioli, cicada cocktails and a spicy popcorn cicada recipe. They are best eaten when they are still young. They taste like “cold canned asparagus,” according to CicadaSafari.org. Because of their similarities to crustaceans, people with shellfish allergies might want to avoid them altogether.
10. The first person to ever document every periodical cicada brood in existence was Gideon B. Smith, a Maryland doctor. With his background working in newspapers, Smith began writing to publications all across the country predicting when and where cicadas would next emerge. In those same letters, he requested that readers send him details on personal sightings via U.S. mail.