BROOD X HATCHES

Billions of cicadas are due to emerge from the ground next spring. Commonly referred to as the 17-year locust – despite not actually being locusts – cicadas are small, cricket-like insects that spend a long time beneath the ground before emerging into adulthood.

There are over 3,000 species of cicada around the world, but these can be split into two general categories: those that annually reproduce and those that do it periodically every 13 or 17 years. Scientists still aren’t sure exactly as to why these insects enjoy the comfort of the underground for so long, but it’s commonly believed that this elongated period is an evolutionary strategy to avoid matching predator population cycles and finding themselves being eaten before they’ve had a chance to make the next generation.

Each female can produce hundreds of eggs before she dies, which over time has resulted in broods of billions digging their way out from the soil every 17 years or so. 2021 is the next big breakout: across 15 states in America, ‘Brood X’ will emerge around mid-May to late June when the ground temperature reaches around 18 degrees Celsius.