Have you heard the buzz? After 17 years of living underground feeding on sap from the roots of plants, one of the largest broods of cicadas will be emerging soon to lay their eggs in trees.
Brood X, or the Great Eastern Brood, will spend 2-4 weeks in late May and early June courting, mating and flying. The eggs they lay will hatch 4-6 weeks later. Their presence will be hard to ignore, as cicadas can emit sounds between 80 and 100 decibels, equivalent to a low-flying airplane or a lawn mower! You can expect to see them in Ohio and about 14 other states as soon as the weather reaches 64 degrees. Their offspring will head back underground and will not be heard again until 2038.