Cicada Mania

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April 3, 2013

Periodical cicadas (“locusts”) Brood XIX (19) will emerge in 2024 in Fifteen States

Filed under: Brood XIX | Magicicada | Periodical — Dan @ 1:01 am

Periodical cicada Brood XIX (19) will emerge in the spring of 2024 in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. The last time Brood XIX emerged was in 2011.

Special note: Brood XIII will also emerge in 2024. While the two broods do not overlap, they come closest in the Springfield, Illinois area.

What, when, where, and why:

What:

Millions of these cicadas:
Adult, Nymph, Molting Cicada

  • Cicada insects with a 13-year life cycle.
  • Some people call them “locusts” but they are really cicadas. (Locusts are grasshoppers.)
  • Which species: All four 13-year species:
    • Magicicada neotredecim Marshall and Cooley, 2000. Range includes: AR, IL, IN, KY MO, & OK.
    • Magicicada tredecim (Walsh and Riley, 1868). Range includes: AL, AR, GA, IL, IN, KY, LA, MD, MO, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN & VA
    • Magicicada tredecassini Alexander and Moore, 1962
    • Magicicada tredecula Alexander and Moore, 1962
  • NOT the green cicadas that arrive annually.

Brood XIX has a 13-year cycle. It is interesting because it features both Magicicada neotredecim and Magicicada tredecim. These cicadas are very similar in song and appearance, but in areas where they overlap, Magicicada neotredecim alters its song to a higher pitch, which allows female cicadas to determine the species of their prospective mates. Visit Cicadas @ UCONN (formerly Magicicada.org) for more info on this behavior.

M. tredecim also have more orange on their abdomen than M. neotredecim.
Compare 13 year decims

When: Typically beginning in mid-May and ending in late June. These cicadas will begin to emerge approximately when the soil 8 inches beneath the ground reaches 64 degrees Fahrenheit. A nice, warm rain will often trigger an emergence.

Other tips: these cicadas will emerge after the trees have grown leaves, and, by my own observation, around the same time Iris flowers bloom.

Where:

Cicadas @ UCONN (formerly Magicicada.org) has the most up to date maps.

  1. Alabama counties: Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun, Chambers, Choctaw, Clarke, Crenshaw, Elmore, Etowah, Greene, Lawrence, Limestone, Lowndes, Monroe, Montgomery, Russell, Sumter, Tallapoosa, Wilcox
  2. Alabama cities: Huntsville, Lowndesboro, Talladega
  3. Arkansas counties: Boone, Futon, Howard, Izard, Lawrence, Marion, Montgomery, Pike, Scott, Searcy, Sevier, Sharp, Washington, Yell
  4. Georgia counties: Bibb, Bleckley, Butts, Columbia, Elbert, Greene, Harris, Houston, Jasper, McDuffie, Monroe, Muscogee, Oconee, Peach, Pulaski, Putnam, Richmond, Stephens, Taliaferro, Troup, Waren, Wilkes
  5. Georgia cities: LaGrange, Lincolnton, Rome, Washington.
  6. Illinois counties: Adams, Brown, Calhoun, Cass, Champaign, Clark, Clay, Coles, Cumberland, De Witt, Effingham, Fayette, Ford, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hancock, Iroquois, Jefferson, Johnson, Marion, Massac, Morgan, Moultrie, Pike, Pope, Saline, Shelby, Vermillion, Washington, Williamson
  7. Illinois cities: Charleston, Decatur
  8. Kentucky counties: Allen, Caldwell, Christian, Trigg
  9. Louisiana parishes: Caddo, Claiborne, Madison, Morehouse, Ouachita, Washington, Webster. Parish information comes from older literature, and might not be as accurate as recent information.
  10. Maryland counties: St Marys
  11. Missouri counties: Adair, Boone, Callaway, Carter, Clark, Cooper, Dent, iron, Jackson, Knox, Louis, Lincoln, Macon, Maries, Marion, Montgomery, Morgan, Oregon, Osage, Pettis, Phelps, Ralls, Reynolds, St. Carles, St Francois, St Louis
  12. Missouri cities: Columbia, Gerald, Manchester, Pevely, Poplar Bluff, St. Louis, Troy
  13. Mississippi counties: Kemper, Newton
  14. North Carolina counties: Buncombe, Cabarrus, Chatham, Davidson, Davie, Durham, Gaston, Guilford, Mecklenburg, Montgomery, Orange, Randolph, Rowan, Stanly, Union, Wake
  15. North Carolina cities: Apex, Baldwin Township, Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Durham, Harrisburg, Mebane, New Hill, Pittsboro, Raleigh, Waxhaw
  16. Oklahoma counties: McCurtain
  17. South Carolina counties: Abbeville, Aiken, Anderson, Cherokee, Chester, Edgefield, Greenwood, Lancaster, Lexington, McCormick, Newberry, Oconee, Saluda, Union, York
  18. South Carolina cities: Chester, Little Mountain, Rock Hill, Saluda, Winnsboro
  19. Tennessee counties: Blount, Cheatham, Clay, Davidson, Grundy, Hamilton, Jackson, Loudon, Macon, Marion, McMinn, Meigs, Putnam, Rutherford, Sequatchie, Smith, Stewart, Summer
  20. Tennessee cities: Gallatin, Lebanon, Nashville, Spring Hill
  21. Virginia counties: Caroline, Glouchester, Halifax, James City, King and Queen, King William, Middlesex, New Kent, York
  22. Virginia cities: Alexandria, Stafford, Williamsburg

More Location Tips:

Why: Why do they stay underground for 13-years? The prevailing research suggests they’ve evolved a long, 13-year lifecycle allowing them to avoid predators that would sync up with their lifecycle & emergence. Why are there so many?! Research suggests that their huge numbers allow them to overwhelm predators, so enough of them will live on to breed and perpetuate the brood.

More facts and fun:

1907 Map from Marlatt, C.L.. 1907. The periodical cicada. Washington, D.C. : U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Bureau of Entomology.

See a modern map, or the Live Map from the Cicada Safari app.
Marlatt 1907 19 Brood XIX

What happened in 2011? Here’s some old blog posts with comments:

What happened in 1998? Here’s our message board from then:

  1. Cicada Mail from June 1998
  2. Cicada Mail from May 1999

45 Comments »

  1. Laura Mellin says:

    We had a massive hatch right around our house in 2011 (brood 19). We had friends over, and our planned activity was put on hold so our friend who is a Master Naturalist and a wildlife photographer could get photos. They were just hatched that morning; still white and soft, and climbing anything they could find to dry out. My husband found an unfortunate one that had been snagged by a northern Widow spider in the grass, and she got a lot of photos of that! It was such a large hatch, but our county in VA shows nothing. I guess no one thought to report it.

    1. Dan says:

      Now that there are apps like iNaturalist and Cicada Safari we’ll miss less of those locations.

  2. Yi-seul says:

    uffda! can’t say i’m jealous of the states that are supposed to be infested with these little buggers. a couple years ago, we had a huge asian beetle problem in minnesota. whole front door of my old house was covered for about three months straight

  3. Toni says:

    We live in Macon county Illinois and in 2011 we had so many in our backyard you couldn’t walk without them crawling up your legs. They were all over the deck and ours trees. When they died we raked piles and piles of the stinking things! I’m not excited but I would love if someone could tell me what to spray on our yard to kill these suckers! I can’t believe anyone wants to come when they’re here! I want to leave!.

  4. John Amero. Chatham County NC says:

    An observation every year of the periodical cicadas we have an abundance of fruit especially cherries and grapes on our trees I guess the birds are more interested in eating meat than they are fruit

  5. Dorothy Lorraine Coleman says:

    very interesting. i live in southeast missouri and will definitely be watching. i will share my findings if any emerge or overlap.

  6. Tim McNary says:

    Hi Dan, my question is: if there is overlap on location for emergence of Brood XIII and XIX, can they be separated by morphology or song?

    1. Dan says:

      After chatting with David Marshall, there aren’t any known places where they actually overlap. They’re about 3 miles apart at the closest, and about 10 miles apart in the Springfield, IL area. (I mention Springfield because it’s a place that’s easy to find for cicada tourists). That said, I think the complimentary 17 & 13 year species songs are very similar. I think David Marshal and John Cooley did the most research on this topic and they would know best. Within Brood XIX, M. neotredecim changes its song in the presence of M. tredecim. See the Reproductive Character Displacement section of this page https://cicadas.uconn.edu/brood_19/.

      1. Miigs says:

        I have seen maps showing Wisconsin also do you know how far north they will emerge?

        1. Dan says:

          About as north as the Wisconsin River. Take a look at https://cicadas.uconn.edu/brood_13/

      2. Dave says:

        We have found no noticeable difference between the 13- and 17-yr sibling species near the 13/17 contact zone in Indiana/Illinois/Iowa/Missouri. However, 13-yr M. tredecim and 17-yr M. septendecim consistently differ in song pitch (ca. 1.4 kHz for septendecim, ca. 1.1 kHz for tredecim, so from about Kentucky eastward, where sep rather than neo is in contact with tre, you will find a difference between them. However, none of those eastern brood pairs will co-emerge for a long time.

        We’re not yet aware of any 13/17 song differences in the cassini or decula groups.

  7. PAtrick Dugan says:

    Hello, does naybody have a website I c ould visit to show the schedule of all types of Cicadas over the next 20 years or so?

    1. Dan says:

      Here’s… The next 17 years of periodical cicadas starting in 2022. The chart on Where will 17 & 13 Year Periodical Cicada Broods emerge next? works too. You can assume any other species are annual or proto-periodical (unpredictable).

    2. Frank Padilla says:

      The Wasp that eat the cicadas Killed one of my American Eskimo puppies and had to rush a second puppy to an emergency clinic and save her life after.
      Be careful with small puppies out sidew they make a nest on the surrounding dirt.

  8. nolandda says:

    Maybe this isn’t the right page for it, but as someone interested in “cicada tourism” I would very much like a map that showed anticipated areas of brood 13 & brood 19 overlap. Bonus points if areas colored for “anticipate some overlap” vs “anticipate major overlap”

    1. Dan says:

      They’re in the same county, but I doubt there’s a major overlap. It’s hard to say because they last time it happened was 221 years ago. Go to this page and there’s a “Figure 5 from Stannard (1975).” that shows where the two broods share counties.

    2. Dan says:

      I double-checked and they’re both in Springfield, IL. Brood XIII is on the north-side and Brood XIX is on the south-side. You can compare this map https://cicadas.uconn.edu/brood_19/ and this map https://cicadas.uconn.edu/brood_13/

  9. Connie Russell says:

    What I want to know is this how come every time they come back out they are always a different color and design? one year they were camoflage,another year they were a pretty yellow and white color.i jeard it was every 7 year they came out so whats going on?

    1. Dan says:

      Those are different species of cicadas. The camouflage cicadas are Neotibicen like Neotibicen linnei (Smith and Grossbeck, 1907) aka Linne’s Cicada. They arrive every year, typically late June-August. The Magicicada that arrive in May-June are the ones that emerge every 13 or 17 years and are black with yellow wings and red eyes.

  10. Kaydubs says:

    Yo Dan My Dude, Is anyone doing a cool genetics project in the overlap areas of 13 and 19 this year? Would we even be able to see an SNP or something special that differentiates them genetically? Could they mate and have functional babies? What time schedule would those babies be on? SO many funnnn questions 🙂

    Kaydubs 🙂

    1. Dan says:

      Very interesting. The folks I know that do most of the genetics are UCONN folks like Chris Simon and John Cooley. I think Chris is retired, but still active (emeritus), but John is still active. I have to check to see how much actual overlap there is. I know they’re in the same county but not sure if they’re in the same precise area. I have to check with Chris and John.

  11. Goatlady Deb says:

    …I am on the border of St. Francois county,near Washington county. I hear a couple every year it seems, but its been a long time since the nights have been deafening with them. I have a few young peach trees, live in the rural woods. Do I need to do anything to protect my young peach trees.? Will I see an influx of small critters? Thanks

    1. Dan says:

      I’m not sure, but I know they are along route 21, from looking at the map on this page.

  12. AllieBri says:

    After a few decades of amateur insect collecting since I was a kid in grade school, I have noticed that this range map is incorrect in regards to Eastern Oklahoma counties (the western terminus of the ozark plateau, esp. Boston Mts., not the prairies). The excellent entomology dept. at OSU and the dept. at OU does surveys in my area. We have both 2024 broods, along with several other species of cicadas. I’m sure this range map will be updated to show a more natural dispersion, rather than having an information gap that creates an artificial dispersion that ends at the AR/OK border. I imagine the range of these insects extends across the entire Ozark plateau, even to us living on the edges. I love trying to catch a peek them crawling up the trees. It happens for such a short period, that it’s always a real treat to see some exoskeletons that are still wiggling!

  13. Linda Wilson says:

    I live in New Orleans USA snd thought I heard a cicada singing yesterday afternoon. Just once. We had a lot of cicadas this past season here. Is it possible this was a cicada?

    1. Dan says:

      It is possible. A species like Megatibicen figuratus (Walker, 1858) aka Fall Southeastern Dusk-singing Cicada are know to sing as late as December.

  14. Renee Lee says:

    why is NYS left out of this cicada forecast ? I’m in the Hudson Valley , NY (NYC metro area) . I saw the other broods emerge , right on sched : 1990 and 2007 . They were big and impressive. Now, if you look at this article ; they act like NY won’t have ANY cicadas. I’m here to tell you , we get them and i expect them in 2024 . And i’m excited too !!!!

    1. Dan says:

      @Renee, a 1990/2007/2024 cycle would be Brood XIII (not XIX). Reach out to John Cooley who is one of the leads for documenting brood locations. and let us know when they arrive next year so we can formally document them.

  15. Shelly Smith says:

    Cicada’s are all over Irving, TX where I live. They disappeared about a month ago but they were so loud I couldn’t hear the person next to me talk. It’s interesting how their noise level goes in waves. I would love to know what type we have and if 2023 was an overlapping of broods? Or if 2024 will be even worse? All summer long I was cleaning up carcasses off my porch.

  16. Bob Broyles says:

    I have at least three early _Magicicada tredecassini_, singing 30 May to date (04 June, 2023) Rural Butler County Kansas, near Towanda I have a 28 second Recording available.

  17. Cyndi Firnbach says:

    I hear a cicada or two…I am on the border of St. Francois county, in Washington county mo. Would this be brood 19 early birds?

    1. Dan says:

      Correct Cindy! Brood XIX/19.

  18. Dan says:

    Some Brood XIX “stragglers” emerged early in 2020. See where in the map below:
    May 30 map - Now with Brood V

  19. Jake says:

    Sangamon County (Springfield) IL is not listed as a Brood XIX area, but it is highlighted in the 2020 stragglers map.

  20. Tom says:

    Brood XIX in South Gifford, MO June 2011
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8ol2TF9-qo

    1. Dan says:

      @Tom,
      the video is marked as:
      Private video
      Sign in if you’ve been granted access to this video

  21. Kayla Frost says:

    Hi! Didn’t see Greenwood, SC on the list for Brood XIX but we absolutely got them in 2011! <3 Can't wait to see them again.

    1. Camilla MCDevitt says:

      They were definitely in Greenwood. Unlike you, I am not looking forward to their reemergence next year. They were everywhere and the noise was incredible. Sounded like car alarms going off nonstop.

  22. RomHead says:

    Confirming emergents in Morgan County, AL.

  23. Katie Fobert says:

    They are emerging by the hundreds today in Channahon IL. 60410. I wasn’t expecting any this year , but I wasn’t really keeping track. We are on the edge of will and grundy county

  24. David Ledgerwood says:

    We have had hundreds of these little creatures come up around our front porch in the past week or so. I have had to sweep them up and gather them with a shovel just to clear a path to get out of the house without stepping on them. Those that are not in the way we leave alone. We have 2 puppies who have also been helping :-/

    1. Stav C says:

      Hey David, can you share approximately where you’re located? Are there any good camping places? I really want to go camp somewhere this weekend where I can see the brood emerging :).

  25. Jon says:

    “What, when, where, and why:”

    No “why” is provided for early emergence Brood 19

    1. Dan says:

      @Jon, thanks. I’ve added that paragraph to the page.

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