April 15th, 2021, 6:00AM / BY Abigail Eisenstadt
The periodical cicada species,
Magicicada septendecim, will erupt from the ground this spring in the mid-Atlantic region. The last time the species from Brood X appeared for their cyclical mating cycle was in 2004. (ARS Information Staff, USDA)
When eight inches below the ground warms to 64 degrees, the invasion of the Washington metropolitan region will begin. Countless young cicadas will erupt from the soil, molting into adults who will then buzz nonstop at a decibel level close to the noise of a loud rock concert or a jet engine.
“Probably somewhere in the vicinity of a trillion cicadas will be out. It will be hard to walk outside without stepping on them,” said Floyd Shockley, the collections manager for the Department of Entomology at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. “They will be singing all day from approximately 10am to 5pm, every single day. It will be a constant bu