2026 Brood II Straggler game plan

Brood II, a brood of Magicicada found in Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Virginia, is set to emerge in the year 2030, but some Brood II stragglers will emerge in 2026.

GET READY! If you had an abundance of cicadas back in 2013, you are likely to find a handful in your yard in 2026.

If you see or hear one, report it using the iNaturalist app or website or using the Cicada Safari app. Share your observations on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X, Bluesky and YouTube. You can use the hashtag #BroodII. Chat about them on the Facebook Cicada Discussion Group.

What is a straggler? A straggler is a periodical cicada that emerges later or earlier than expected. Magicicada often emerge 4 years earlier than expected. You can also call them “precursors” when they emerge earlier.

When to look for stragglers?

• Stragglers will emerge in the spring sometime between late April and May.
• Their emergence will be triggered by the warming of the soil where they live. When the soil gets to be approximately 64°F eight inches deep, they will emerge. Air temperatures in the 70s and 80s warm the soil. Warm rain helps as well. Read more about that.
• Tip: We usually don’t see them emerge until the trees have leaves and purple iris bloom.

You can also look for cicada chimneys or tunneling cicadas under logs, slates or rocks in April and early May. Look, observe, but do not disturb them.

A cicada chimney is an elevated exit cicadas build above their tunnels:

Where to look for stragglers?

Check this map on the UCONN website. That is where Brood II last emerged.

Hot spots from 2013:

Connecticut (CT)

• Meriden, CT

New Jersey (NJ)

• Berkeley Heights, NJ
• Colonia, NJ
• Edison, NJ
• Flat Rock Brood Nature Center, NJ
• Iselin, NJ
• Lewis Morris Park, NJ
• Maplewood in Essex County, NJ
• Metuchen, NJ
• Millburn, NJ
• Montclair, NJ
• Mountainside, NJ
• Plainfield, NJ
• Scotch Plans, NJ
• Upper Montclair, NJ
• West Milford, NJ
• Westfield, NJ

There might be a “shadow brood”, Brood XV, around the Fanwood, NJ area. This would be a brood established from Brood II stragglers, with a large enough of a population to breed and sustain a new brood offset 4 years from Brood II. We will see.

New York (NY)

• Cornwall-On Hudson, NY
• Fishkill, NY
• Germantown, NY
• Red Hook, NY
• Rhinebeck, NY
• Staten Island, NY
• Stony Point, NY

North Carolina (NC)

• Madison, NC
• Yadkin County, NC

Oklahoma (OK)

• Oklahoma City, OK

Virginia (VA)

• Brentsville, VA
• Calvert County, VA
• Charlottesville, VA
• Doylesville, VA
• Fredricksburg, VA
• Front Royal, VA
• Glen Allen, VA
• Kinderhook, VA
• Lake Ridge, VA
• Louisa County, VA
• Manassas Battlefield Park, VA
• Martinsville, VA
• North Garden, VA
• Rhoadesville, VA
• Springfield, VA
• Stafford County, VA
• Stanardsville, VA
• Woodbridge, VA

What do they look like?

They look like this once they’ve molted:

Red eyes (typically), black bodies, orange-black legs and orange-yellow wings.

Nymphs that have recently emerged from the ground:

This is each major stage in their life cycle:

Top, Left to Right: cicada egg, freshly hatched nymph, second and third instar nymphs. Bottom, Left to Right: fourth instar nymph, teneral adult, adult. (Photos by Roy Troutman and Elias Bonaros).

There are 3 types/species of Magicicada in Brood II: Magicicada cassini, Magicicada septendecim, and Magicicada septendecula.

Left to right: Magicicada cassini, Magicicada septendecula, Magicicada septendecim::