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Brood X Periodical Cicadas FAQ

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Re: Brood X Periodical Cicadas FAQ

#11

Post by openasocket »

dstaley wrote: post #6

I'm a bit perplexed as to why cicadas have been in the news lately. It's my understanding that almost every year there's a brood that emerges. In fact, I think it's more noteworthy that 2023 will be the first year in almost a decade without the emergence of cicadas.

This brood is orders of magnitude larger than the others. I grew up in Maryland and I don't think I've ever seen a cicada up close except for now and 17 years prior. Sure I heard them sometimes in the summer, but this is something else.

Re: Brood X Periodical Cicadas FAQ

#12

Post by dmitryminkovsky »

openasocket wrote: post #11
dstaley wrote: post #6

I'm a bit perplexed as to why cicadas have been in the news lately. It's my understanding that almost every year there's a brood that emerges. In fact, I think it's more noteworthy that 2023 will be the first year in almost a decade without the emergence of cicadas.

This brood is orders of magnitude larger than the others. I grew up in Maryland and I don't think I've ever seen a cicada up close except for now and 17 years prior. Sure I heard them sometimes in the summer, but this is something else.

I'm in Maryland too. Are you seeing them in any quantity?

Re: Brood X Periodical Cicadas FAQ

#13

Post by oh_sigh »

dmitryminkovsky wrote: post #7

Had never experienced something like these cicadas 17 years ago. Epic, biblical. Have been waiting ever since. Last few days I've seen a few here and there, but nothing in comparison to what I was expecting. Will this take some time to ramp up?

I think it really depends on where you are. Even within their range, in some places they've been wiped out from pesticides, or tree removals, or got their signals mixed up and emerged early/will emerge late.

I can say that I was in Silver Spring, MD for Brood X in the spring of 2004, and for a few days you couldn't take a step without squishing 20 cicadas. Trees looked like you had dropped acid because they were literally covered >50% of their surface area in wiggling cicadas. I started carrying an umbrella because I would be picking them of of myself for a half hour from the mere 20' walk from my car to my front door.

Re: Brood X Periodical Cicadas FAQ

#14

Post by tashi »

legerdemain wrote: post #3

I was in college on the east coast of the US last time this brood emerged. More than any class reunion, I have looked forward to coming back to experience this wild and bizarre phenomenon. COVID scrambled those plans. The next time brood X comes out, I'll be middle-aged. Most of my life will have run its course. I hope the cicadas will help me make peace with that fact.

I don't think people usually start coming to terms with death by their mid-fifties. Where I live they mostly seem to be training for their first triathlons.

Re: Brood X Periodical Cicadas FAQ

#15

Post by bynkman »

dstaley wrote: post #6

I'm a bit perplexed as to why cicadas have been in the news lately. It's my understanding that almost every year there's a brood that emerges. In fact, I think it's more noteworthy that 2023 will be the first year in almost a decade without the emergence of cicadas.

Some broods are very localized and small. I believe Brood X is going to be a large brood for many areas East of the Mississippi. 2024 may be a bonkers year for SE Missouri/NW Kentucky, when two broods will come out around the Mississippi. I live in Kansas City, and 2014 was a brood year for the area. We won't be seeing much until 2024. Many of my friends have been posting about Brood X, here in KC. But I've been having to educate them about the locality of brood X.

The 2004 brood in KC was a good size. Totally freaked me out, since I had recently moved to the area, and had never seen a cicada in my life. At first, I thought they were alarms going off.

Re: Brood X Periodical Cicadas FAQ

#16

Post by interestica »

lupire wrote: post #10
dstaley wrote: post #6

I'm a bit perplexed as to why cicadas have been in the news lately. It's my understanding that almost every year there's a brood that emerges. In fact, I think it's more noteworthy that 2023 will be the first year in almost a decade without the emergence of cicadas.

Larger prime numbers have larger broods (maybe). This brood is the largest, most successful brood

Whoa, I had no idea about the math involved:

> "But the 13- and 17-year recurrence of cicada emergences may be an even savvier strategy. Both 13 and 17 are prime numbers, meaning they're divisible only by 1 and themselves. This means that emergences rarely overlap with predator population cycles that occur in shorter intervals. For example, if cicadas emerged every 10 years, they'd be susceptible to predators whose population boomed on a cycle of one, two, five or 10 years. If they came out every 12 years, they'd be a tasty snack for any predator on a cycle of one, two, three, four, six or 12 years. Thirteen years, though? Only one and 13. The same goes for a 17-year cycle."

https://www.livescience.com/periodical-cicada-prime-numbers....

Re: Brood X Periodical Cicadas FAQ

#17

Post by plaidfuji »

dmitryminkovsky wrote: post #12
openasocket wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This brood is orders of magnitude larger than the others. I grew up in Maryland and I don't think I've ever seen a cicada up close except for now and 17 years prior. Sure I heard them sometimes in the summer, but this is something else.

I'm in Maryland too. Are you seeing them in any quantity?

I’m in MD as well... there’s a big maple tree in my yard that’s attracted probably hundreds of them at this point, lots of holes in the ground around it from when they emerged, but they haven’t started singing yet, or even moving tbh. And hundreds is a lot, but not “covering the entire tree” by any means. Just a surprisingly large number of giant, docile bugs in the corner of the yard.

Re: Brood X Periodical Cicadas FAQ

#18

Post by F00Fbug »

dmitryminkovsky wrote: post #12
openasocket wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This brood is orders of magnitude larger than the others. I grew up in Maryland and I don't think I've ever seen a cicada up close except for now and 17 years prior. Sure I heard them sometimes in the summer, but this is something else.

I'm in Maryland too. Are you seeing them in any quantity?

We got nothing in Calvert County!

Re: Brood X Periodical Cicadas FAQ

#19

Post by plaidfuji »

plaidfuji wrote: post #17
dmitryminkovsky wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in Maryland too. Are you seeing them in any quantity?

I’m in MD as well... there’s a big maple tree in my yard that’s attracted probably hundreds of them at this point, lots of holes in the ground around it from when they emerged, but they haven’t started singing yet, or even moving tbh. And hundreds is a lot, but not “covering the entire tree” by any means. Just a surprisingly large number of giant, docile bugs in the corner of the yard.

Update: just went outside to check (it’s dusk)... there are thousands more coming out right now. It’s gonna be nuts tomorrow morning.

Re: Brood X Periodical Cicadas FAQ

#20

Post by neither_color »

dstaley wrote: post #6

I'm a bit perplexed as to why cicadas have been in the news lately. It's my understanding that almost every year there's a brood that emerges. In fact, I think it's more noteworthy that 2023 will be the first year in almost a decade without the emergence of cicadas.

I was a kid when the last brood X came out(Washington DC area) and it's epic, like something out of a movie. They literally darken the sky, and you sweep mounds of their carcasses off your driveway and sidewalk. We used to grab handfuls of them and throw them at each other in school, put them down our friends shirts as pranks, etc.
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