Periodical Cicadas to Emerge This Year in New York State, But Only In One Small Area

Experts say that billions of periodical cicadas are expected to make their return to a number of states this spring, including parts of New York.

Cicada adults are known for their black bodies and "striking red eyes and orange wing veins", with a black "W" near the tips of the forewings, according to the New York DEC website.

The DEC says that there are seven species of periodical cicadas, four with a 17-year cycle and three with a 13-year cycle. That differs from annual cicadas, which emerge every year during the summer. Finger Lakes 1 says  that periodical cicadas spend their limited amount of time "buzzing, mating, and laying eggs before dying."

LoHud reports that Brood XIV will emerge later this spring, when it gets warm enough, in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. New York is also expected to see billions of the loud, high-pitched buzzing bugs again, but only in one relatively small area of the state.

Periodical Cicadas to Emerge This Year in New York State, But Only One Small Area

LoHud reports that Brood XIV will return this year to New York for the first time since 2008. The cicadas will begin to come out in states like Georgia by April, and eventually later in more northern states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New Jersey. However, this is not the same brood that the Hudson Valley and Capital Region experienced in 2013.

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Cicada Safari reports that Brood XIV cicadas are expected to only emerge in New York in parts of Long Island, and in a very small area near New York City. Cicada Safari founder Professor Gene Kritsky says though that cicada populations in Long Island have been declining during recent cycles due to severe droughts in the area.

Brood II, which last emerged across the Tri-State area in 2013, will return again in 2030.