The Noisy Periodical Cicadas Are Emerging: Where To See And Hear Them In PA

PENNSYLVANIA — The Keystone State is one of 13 states throughout the east where millions of Brood XIV 17-year periodical cicadas are tunneling up from their underground homes to emerge this spring.

The arrival is marked by a cacophonous symphony that can be as loud as a jackhammer running full bore into concrete, according to scientists.

Related: Everything You Need To Know About Millions Of Cicadas Emerging In 13 States

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 powerfully loud, reaching 100 decibels depending on the number.

Only the males sing.

Besides Pennsylvania, other states experiencing the cacophony of noise as the cicadas emerge are Georgia, Kentucky, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

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.

The site iNaturalistLive has a map specifically for Pennsylvania which shows precisely where the shrill shriekers have emerged.

"We’re talking central Pennsylvania, and random locations toward the east," the analysts at Cicadamania say of the expected emergence in the Keystone State.

They've been spotted in Adams, Berks, Blair, Cambria, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Cumberland, Huntingdon, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Lycoming, Mifflin, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder, and Union counties.

Morgantown was home to the first reported adult cicada this year, on May 8, according to iNaturalist.

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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