17 years waiting to sing
After years underground,
alien looking cicadas emerge en masse to mate. Boy do they sound ready!
May 27, 2024
We visited Springfield Illinois to see the hordes of periodical cicadas that emerged this year. Two broods, or groups, of cicadas came out this year: 17 year cicadas of brood XIII (8); and 13 year cicadas of brood XIX (19). The ‘year’ is how long they lived as children underground. I picked Springfield because that might be one of the few locations where both groups were present. Once we got there, I realized I had no way to tell if I was seeing a member of XIII or XIX. We did not need to go that far.
We still enjoyed visiting Springfield. Cicadas were everywhere. If you opened your car window as you drove past any block of woods, you would hear their eerie droning.
To see them up close, we chose to visit the Lincoln Memorial Garden and Nature Center. We did see many individuals. But they were most impressive as a mass effect. Their cumulative droning was so loud, we had difficulty hearing birds sing. Click image below to hear this.
Click image to start video
