The Brood X Cicadas Are Coming

Annual cicadas make an appearance every year during the late summer. But this year, a breed of periodical cicadas known as Brood X will make an appearance across the eastern United States after 17 years underground.

Easily identified by their black bodies and red eyes, Brood X will mate high up in the trees and then lay their eggs within the treetops. Six weeks later, the eggs will hatch, and the nymphs will fall to the ground where they burrow into the dirt and continue the nearly 20-year development process. Brood X’s above-ground adult life only lasts 4-6 weeks and is mostly filled with ‘singing’ and mating. The male cicada will make chirping or clicking noises as a mating call to the female cicada. In some regions, periodical cicadas can emerge in the hundreds, thousands, or even millions. Given how many of them can emerge in one location, their singing can seem deafening. A congregation of singing cicadas can clock in at 100 decibels – equivalent loudness to a jackhammer.

Brood X is harmless but wide-spread and plentiful. You can expect them to make an appearance in the following states:

• Delaware
• Georgia
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Kentucky
• Maryland
• Michigan
• New Jersey
• New York
• North Carolina
• Ohio
• Pennsylvania
• Tennessee
• Virginia
• West Virginia

While Brood X and its family tree of relatives can be annoying, they pose no threat to humans and are largely beneficial. They help to prune trees, aerate the soil and, once deceased, their carcass provides an important source of nitrogen for growing trees.

Harmless Brood X cicadas will be here for a blip of time, but a more prominent and dangerous pest - mosquitoes - are a summer staple. Let us help you take back your yard. Contact your local Mosquito Squad today!