Home & Garden
The Noisy Periodical Cicadas Are Emerging: Where To See And Hear Them In NJ
They come out in sunny areas first, and then in shady areas.
NEW JERSEY - New Jersey is one of 13 Eastern states where millions of Brood XIV 17-year periodical cicadas are tunneling up from their underground homes and announcing their arrival in a noisy symphony that can be as loud as a jackhammer running full bore into concrete.
Not everyone is a fan of the cicadas, which live briefly in the sunlight for what amounts to a weeks-long sex party before they die. Their mating call is ridiculously loud, reaching 100 decibels depending on the number. Only the males sing.
Besides New Jersey, other states experiencing the cacophony of noise as the cicadas emerge are Georgia, Kentucky, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
Find out what's happening in Across New Jerseyfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Typically, it’s safe for cicadas to come out of the ground when the soil 8 inches below the surface gets to 64 degrees Fahrenheit. They come out in sunny areas first, and then in shady areas. iNaturalistLive Maps show where the cicadas are.
Find out what's happening in Across New Jerseyfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Among the largest of the 17-year broods, 2025’s Brood XIV periodical cicada emergence could come close to matching last year’s rare dual cicada emergence of both the 17-year cicadas in Brood XIII, known as the Northern Illinois Brood, and the 13-year cicadas in Brood XIX, the Great Southern Brood.
Scientists can’t fully explain periodic cicadas’ evolutionary strategy. It could be that their periodic emergence is timed on odd years to avoid predators with two-year life cycles, according to Tulane University biologist Keith Clay. He calls the emergence of periodical cicadas “one of the most unusual biological phenomena on Earth.”
Another hypothesis about the synchronized emergence of periodical cicadas is that the forced developmental delay was an adaptation to climate cooling during the ice ages.
Most cicadas have red eyes, but some are blue-eyed due to a rare genetic mutation. The color variations are rare, but natural, according to the University of Connecticut.
Last year in Illinois, cicada central for the dual emergence, some kids made sport of searching for blue-eyed bugs. One plucky 5-year-old, Jason Prange, found not one but two of the blue-eyed mutants.
Even with the dual emergence, cicada expert Gene Kritsky said the chances of finding a blue-eyed cicada were “one in a million.”
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