Community Corner
When Are Cicadas Hatching in Our Area?
They're here, and they're just waiting to hatch. An historic huge swarm of cicadas is just underground and it's almost time for them to emerge.
Within the next few weeks, hordes of insects will awaken from a 17-year slumber, crawl out of the earth, shed their skins, and set the entire East Coast abuzz in a plague-like event enthusiasts have dubbed the “Cicadapocalypse” after the bugs' name, cicadas.
Known as the East Coast II brood, these cicadas will emerge between April and June, across North Carolina and several other states up through Connecticut.
When the ground temperature hits 64 degrees Fahrenheit, the bugs will come out, spend roughly one week on the ground molting, and then hit the skies.
The result? A 7 kHz buzz will fill the region as the cicadas try to attract mates. Male cicadas woo their female counterparts with courtship "songs" created by rubbing together a pair of rigid membranes on their bodies, according to magicicada.org.
High up on sunny tree branches, only the males can produce sound, which they do, raising near-deafening choruses to attract the silent female cicadas to mate.
Luckily, male cicadas' pleas for female companionship are only made during the day, so they should not keep you up at night, says Marten Edwards, a bug expert and blogger for South White Hall Patch.
If they behave typically, the cicadas will be around for four to six weeks after first appearing. According to a Southampton Patch blogger, the bugs will bring big appetites—but, contrary to popular belief, they do not have chewing mouth parts and therefore do not usually cause damage to plants.
This unique brood will have beady, orange eyes, and not black ones.
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