It wouldn’t be a Missouri summer without the pulsating hum of its annual cicadas.
The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) encourages you to learn more about these bug-eyed insects and the important role they play in the ecosystem.
Periodical cicadas are making headlines this year as numerous states will be visited by Brood X after spending 17 years underground. However, MDC’s Forest Entomologist Robbie Doerhoff says Missouri won’t experience periodical cicadas for another few years.
“Periodical cicadas won’t emerge in Missouri until 2024,” explained Doerhoff. “But the dog days, or annual cicadas, we see each summer will be present, and are super cool in their own way.”