This will be a big weekend for cicadas: What to expect in Cincinnati
It's finally time.
This weekend in Cincinnati is shaping up to be perfect for a cicada emergence, as billions of insects arise en masse from the ground.
Brood X periodical cicadas will emerge when the soil temperature reaches 64 degrees, typically following a nice soaking rain. Unseasonably cool temperatures have postponed their arrival in the Cincinnati area, but they're still expected very soon — likely beginning this weekend — with numbers in the billions.
"When I measured last Saturday, (the soil) had dropped down to 57 again. So, this week as we slowly get into the 70s by the end of the week, that’s going to help bring them up," said Gene Kritsky, one of the world's leading experts in cicadas, and the dean of behavioral and natural sciences for Mount St. Joseph University.
“It looks like right now, we’ll have appropriate temperatures by the end of the week or beginning of next week. They’re a little late, but they’re coming.”
Temperatures will be in the 70s this weekend, with a stray shower or two possible on Sunday — likely primetime for an emergence.
This will be a generational event, Kritsky said. After 17 years, Brood X is expected to arrive en masse across 15 states – including Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. Some areas will be harder hit than others.
Kritsky cited several Cincinnati neighborhoods in particular where he expects large numbers of cicadas: Delhi Township, Green Township, Price Hill and Hyde Park, for starters, will see extremely high numbers.
“Hyde Park had a really good emergence (in 2004). We had between 150 and 250 per square yard in peoples’ trees,” Kritsky said.
“We’re going to see them all across the city, and just east of Interstate 71," he added. "The numbers are going to be picking up in the Madeira area, the Kenwood area, especially east of the interstate.”
But everyone will see cicadas in the Cincinnati area. These neighborhoods simply saw the largest emergence in 2004.
“That doesn’t mean the others aren’t going to get them. These are the areas where we measured large numbers 17 years ago,” Kritsky said.
There have been several questions about the cicadas. Here, we will answer some of your most frequently asked questions.
WHAT IS BROOD X?
Let's start from the beginning.
Brood X is a group of periodical cicadas that emerge every 17 years.
In 2004, a year when Tobey Maguire was still the reigning Spider-Man — the red-eyed Brood X cicadas last emerged, leaving behind billions of baby bugs.
These baby bugs, heirs to the infamous 2021 Brood X, burrowed underground for 17 years, sucking moisture from the tree roots.
Now, after 17 years, it's their turn to shine. Now adults, they're ready to come out of their slumber.
Periodical cicadas, as they're known, spend most of their lives underground. In the spring of their 13th or 17th year (in this case 17th), they will emerge synchronously en masse.
Amorous males attract mates by rapidly vibrating drumlike tymbals on the sides of their abdomen to produce sound. They’ll shed their exoskeletons, attach themselves to branches, mate and lay eggs before dying off in about six weeks.
The hatched nymphs then will drop off the trees and burrow underground to live for another 17 years, and the cycle repeats.
It's a natural cycle that cicadas have followed for thousands of years.
HOW LONG WILL THEY BE AROUND?
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, Kritsky says.
They'll be mostly gone by mid-July.
EARLY SIGNS
Signs of the brood are already showing up in several neighborhoods across the area.
“We’re seeing two things right now. One, we’re seeing holes – holes all over the place. Those are holes made by the cicadas. They’re up to an inch and maybe even closer to the surface. But after a rain, that cover could disappear,” Kritsky said.
“We’re also seeing reports, I’ve received maybe a half dozen in the past few days, of chimneys. Those were made during the rain we had last week. During a nice constant rain, some cicadas will actually extend their tunnel above ground by building a little mound of mud. We call them chimneys or turrets," he added.
Others have submitted reports of actual cicadas, most of them physically dug up during gardening or other sorts of yard work.
Kritsky says there are several things we can learn from studying these early cicadas.
“If you went out and dug up cicadas today, what you would find is that the nymphs have red eyes – which means they’re coming out this year – but they have not yet developed these characteristic black pouches behind their head,” he said. “Which tells us they’re not ready to emerge just yet.”
HOW MANY ARE WE TALKING?
We're talking billions. With a "B."
"This is the big one, a generational event," Kritsky said.
"For people who have been around a while, they will remember what it was like 17 years ago or even farther back to when they were kids and they'll know what to expect," he added. "For those who weren't alive 17 years ago or who were too young at the time and can't remember, they are in for quite an experience."
At their peak, you can expect to see cicadas seemingly everywhere -- on trees and on the façade of your home.
WHAT OTHER STATES WILL THEY BE IN?
In addition to Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, Brood X will also emerge in Delaware; Georgia; Illinois; Maryland; Michigan; North Carolina; New Jersey; New York; Pennsylvania; Tennessee; Virginia; West Virginia; and Washington, D.C.
That includes the major metropolitan areas of New York, Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Indianapolis, Louisville, Lexington, Nashville, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton and others.
DO THEY STING?
No.
They’re relatively harmless to living things.
Cicadas are mainly a nuisance, flying into windshields and littering homes with tiny carcasses.
WHAT ABOUT MY PLANTS?
No, they will not kill your trees, according to Kritsky.
“All over southwest Ohio, we’ve got literally millions of cicadas. And if you look at all of the trees, you can’t tell which tree had the most cicadas. It’s not to the cicadas’ advantage to kill the trees. That’s their food source,” he said.
You need not worry about mature trees, Kritsky said. However, if you have saplings ready to plant, you may want to consider holding off until late June.
“The one thing homeowners might want to do is delay planting new trees until later in June. If it’s a very intense emergence in the area, those trees might be attractive to some of the cicadas where they want to lay their eggs. But even that, if the tree is 5 feet or larger, they probably won’t hurt that tree that much, either,” Kritsky said.
You don't have to worry about cicadas messing up your flowers either. They may land on them, Kritsky said, but they won't feed on them.
LOVE THEM OR HATE THEM?
If you're not a fan of creepy crawly things, it might be a long and loud six weeks.
They're about an inch and a half long, and will — occasionally — land on humans if they're outside.
Marty Land remembers the last time they were around.
"The woods were just so noisy," he said.
But to others like Kritsky, the emergence is heaven on earth. The 17-year cicadas are one of the reasons he moved to Cincinnati in the '80s.
"It's like having David Attenborough in your backyard. With this wonderful show, you get to watch the development of the adult transformation," he said.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
Kritsky helped developed a way for anyone to help scientists track and map Brood X — and they need your help.
He helped develop the Cicada Safari app.
It allows users to search, photograph, video and help map the cicadas, which will contribute to vital scientific research by determining the distribution of the brood of the emerging cicadas. Such information will enable scientists to assess the status of Brood X cicadas.
“As strange as it may sound, but periodical cicada broods can go extinct,” Kritsky said. “Brood XI, which emerged in large numbers just two centuries ago, was deemed extinct in 1954.”
To join Cicada Safari and help map the 2021 emergence, download the free app from the Apple App Store or Google Play. When a cicada is spotted, users can use the app to photograph or video the insects and then submit the images for inclusion in the cicada map.
"We developed this app because so many people are fascinated by cicadas," Kritsky said. "This is true citizen science. People can use their phones with our app to track, photograph and help us map the cicadas to verify where they are emerging. An issue with citizen science projects is the difficulty to verify new observations. The photographs submitted to our map are like voucher specimens permitting us to verify the observations making the maps more useful for future research."
Kritsky and the Mount have also launched the CicadaSafari.org site, which offers a virtual trove of cicada facts, history, facts, maps and activities.