It’s Magicicada season!

Annual cicadas show up every year, but periodical cicadas (from the genus Magicicada) only show up every 13 or 17 years.

Cicadas provide many benefits to the ecosystem. They’re not dangerous, but they are very, very loud—cicadas are some of the loudest insects in the world! Male cicadas have a special organ called a tymbal (rhymes with “cymbal”), which they use to attract mates by producing an intense whirring, screeching sound that can reach up to 100 decibels.

Why is this year special?

Each cicada brood emerges at the same time to reproduce, and then dies shortly afterwards. This year is special because two specific broods, one on a 13-year cycle and one on a 17-year cycle, will be emerging together for the first time in over 200 years.

Two broods emerging at once means a lot of cicadas! Luckily for human ears, the two broods will only overlap in very small areas.

What should I do if I see a cicada?

You can snap a photo to document this historic emergence! If the cicada has red eyes, a black body, and reddish-yellow wings, it’s a periodical cicada. You can help scientists track emergences by submitting your photo through the Cicada Safari app.

Where will the cicadas be?

If you live in southwest Michigan, you may see a few periodical cicadas emerge in addition to the annual cicadas that emerge in Michigan every year. However, most of them will be concentrated farther south, including nearly all of Indiana.

Visit the University of Connecticut's page on periodical cicada broods for more information about where each brood is expected to emerge.

Can cicadas hurt us?

Not at all! They don’t bite or sting, and they have no poison or venom. The greatest danger they pose is to our eardrums: a chorus of cicadas can be as loud as a blender or an electric lawn mower.

If you hold a cicada in your hand too long, there’s a small chance it might get overheated, think you’re a tree, and try to drink from you. As you are not a tree, this will feel like a small pinprick but won’t cause any damage.

Can cicadas hurt plants?

Swarming cicadas may overwhelm very thin branches on very young trees, but they are actually very good for plant and soil health at every stage: when they emerge, they add oxygen to the soil that they tunnel through; when they lay eggs, they naturally prune mature trees; when they die, they add precious nutrients including nitrogen to the soil.

Standard pesticides will not work on cicadas and are strongly discouraged—no matter how noisy it gets!

Links mentioned:

• U-M Museum of Zoology Periodical Cicada Page
• Cicada Safari
• University of Connecticut Periodical Cicada Brood Information

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