Residents of the northeastern United States should expect to encounter numerous cicadas soon.
This year marks when billions of the creatures will emerge from underground—the group was born in 1999 and are known as 17-year cicadas.
Parts of Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia are expected to see the creatures, starting in mid- to late-April or May as temperatures warm up for late spring.
“Generally speaking, these cicadas will begin to emerge when the soil 8″ beneath the ground reaches 64 degrees Fahrenheit. A nice, warm rain will often trigger a emergence. So, definitely May, but something might happen in April if we have a particularly hot spring,” the Cicada Mania blog reported.
Cicadas are harmless to humans but such large numbers appearing all at once can make a lot of noise.
“It feels like an alien spaceship coming in,” Maryland resident Gene Miller, then 66, told the Washington Post in 2004.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture noted in a report that the cicada “songs” are heard from early morning all the way into late evening.
The creatures can inflict significant damage on tree trunks and other vertical objects—to reduce damage, homeowners are advised to prune ornamentals and trees lightly prior to the mass emergence.
Small trees can be further protected by covering them with cheesecloth, finely woven netting, or tobacco shade cloth, which prevents female cicadas from laying eggs around in the trees. If the female does this, the baby cicadas will likely emerge 17 years down the road.
