The pesky, yet somewhat magical, 17-year cicada invasion is set to happen in a few short weeks for parts of West Virginia – and all of neighboring Pennsylvania. There are several broods of the cicada that only emerge once every 17 years in northern states – and they number in the millions! Unlike their green cicada cousin, also commonly referred to as a locust, these dark cicadas from Brood VIII will cover the landscape with color and the air with a song that sounds like an electronic buzz – a never-ending whir of busyness.
As annoying as it is… it’s still pretty magical.
Flickr/Vail Marston
You see, the cicadas that emerge every 17 years are able to keep gaining momentum in the size of their swarms because they’re gone from the landscape for such long periods their predators can’t cut down the numbers.
Flickr/Amy
That’s why millions of them will soon be everywhere we look in parts of the state. (Don’t worry… if this year’s Brood VIII doesn’t reach your backyard, then Brood IX and Brood X are set to emerge in the next two years.)
Flickr/you know
For the last 17 years, the cicadas have been living in tunnels under the ground, busily reading for their emergence this spring when the ground temperature eight inches below the surface reaches 64 degrees.
Flickr/ Lisa Zins
The females cut a hole in the bark of tree trunks and limbs and lay eggs so a new generation of the Brood can emerge again in another 17 years. Once the eggs hatch, the baby cicadas drop to the ground, burrow a hole into the earth, and the cycle begins anew.
Flickr/Mark Levisay
When and where can we expect them in West Virginia? We’ll start seeing them by mid-May (usually after a rain) and they’ll stick around wreaking havoc until late June in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia. For everyone else, get ready for more cicadas emerging in other parts of the state in 2020 and 2021.
Flickr/Vail Marston
Flickr/Amy
Flickr/you know
Flickr/ Lisa Zins
Flickr/Mark Levisay
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