The cicadas in the genus Magicicada
… are the species known for their spectacular mass emergences every 13 or 17 years. Magicicadas occur in distinct populations, called broods, and each brood is on its own 17-year cycle. This year the show will take place along the east coast of the US, from New York south to North Carolina - corresponding to Brood II. Next year it will be Brood III’s turn, a smaller population primarily contained in Iowa and western Illinois. In all there are twelve 17-year broods and three 13-year broods, and nearly every year at least one brood, somewhere, will be emerging.
In fact, the next year *without* any mass cicada emergence will be 2022. Fortunately, despite their appearance and noisiness, cicadas are generally harmless. Adult cicadas feed on plant sap, and females lay their eggs in the stems of plants, but even these mass emergences rarely do lasting harm to plants. The emergence only lasts 4-6 weeks, while the adults find mates and lay eggs, after which they die.
Photo by U.S. Department of Agriculture
(via: Peterson Field Guides)
