With spring around the corner, there s already buzz about when periodical cicadas will arrive.
The entrance of periodical cicadas, which have been living underground for the past 17 years, will be anything but subtle.
This year will mark the re-emergence of Brood X, or the Great Eastern Brood, of periodical cicadas those large, winged, kind of scary-looking but mostly harmless large flying insects known for their almost deafening buzz.
A jet plane flying in for landing at John Glenn International Airport in Columbus can reach about 80 decibels. But leave it to a group of male cicadas performing mating calls in a tree to top that. Male cicadas have been recorded to hit 96 decibels, said Gene Kritsky, dean of the School of Behavioral and Natural Sciences at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati. Kritsky authored, Periodical Cicadas: the Brood X Edition published by the Ohio Biological Survey, which is expected out in mid-February.