Here they come!
"Birds and wildlife will have a feast," said Michael Stoakes of the Kansas City Regional Office, MO Department of Conservation. He was referring to the simultaneous emergence of two different broods of cicadas that experts anticipate will occur sometime mid-to-late April through mid-May.
Tamra Reall, Horticulturalist with Missouri University Extension, also known as 'Dr. Bug,' said "it will be crazy!" Cicadas are not locusts as some mistakenly call them. They do not bite or sting humans or domestic pets, and do not carry diseases. Therefore, Reall recommends against using pesticides which can be harmful. New trees or bushes that may be susceptible to damage can be protected with loose covers of cheesecloth.
Brood XIII (Northern Illinois Brood), underground for the last 17 years, and Brood XIX (Great Southern Brood), the largest of all and underground for the last 13 years, have not emerged together since 1803. The co-emergence of these two specific broods will not occur again until 2245.
After the temperature at 8 inches underground reaches 64° F for several consecutive days, much of Missouri, a “hot spot” for the 2024 cicadas according to Reall, could experience up to 1.5 million of four different species of Brood XIX cicadas per acre. Farther away, people in the Springfield, IL area might also see three different species of the Brood XIII cicadas, especially in or near wooded areas. Overall, however, the broods are not expected to overlap to any significant degree.
Cicadas emerge for the sole purpose to mate, shortly after which both males and females die. Males "sing out" mating calls particular to their species that can be "as loud as a lawnmower. " Females lay their eggs in tree branches. The nymphs fall to the ground, burrow into the soil, which is enriched by them, and the 13-year or 17-year cycle begins again.
These two broods are known as “Magicicadas.” Considering the number of predators threatening them, their survival does seem magical. Their large swarms make them easy targets for other insects like wasps, spiders and ants. Birds, bats, squirrels, snakes, lizards, raccoons, opossums, and fish also find them tasty. Not only insects, rodents, and fish makes meals of cicadas. Cicadas are herbivores, edible also for humans. Even so, the FDA recommends that people with shellfish allergies do not eat them.
The website CicadaSafari.org describes periodical cicadas, maps locations where Broods XIII and XIX will emerge, suggests activities for learning about cicadas, offers free downloads, and provides links to other websites and books on the subject. A free Cicada Safari app can be downloaded from Apple or Google Play stores. Tamra Reall encourages Missourians to use it. Help map the locations of cicadas by searching for them to take and submit photographs.
Sometime this month or in May we will know whether the prediction that a horde of cicadas will emerge here was accurate. If so, the sights and sounds of millions of Brood XIX cicadas in Benton County will be unmistakable!
Let’s wait and see.
