Up to a Trillion Cicadas Are About to Emerge in the U.S.
- April 9, 2024
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Up to a Trillion Cicadas Are About to Emerge in the U.S.
Subject: Environment
Section: Species in news
Context:
- Two periodical cicada broods are appearing in a 16-state area in the Midwest and Southeast for the first time in centuries.
More on news:
- In a rare occurrence, a trillion cicadas from two different broods are expected to begin appearing in the Midwest and Southeast regions of the United States at the end of April.
- It’s the first time since 1803 that Brood XIX, or the Great Southern Brood, and Brood XIII, or the Northern Illinois Brood, will appear together in an event known as a dual emergence.
When are the cicadas coming out?
- The first cicadas are expected to start emerging in late April.
- Temperature determines when they come out.
- First the soil needs to reach 64 degrees Fahrenheit, about six inches deep, and then you get a good soaking rain, and that’s when they really pop.
- They use their forelegs to tunnel out from the earth, their beady red eyes looking for a spot where they can peacefully finish maturing.
- A few days after they emerge and molt, the males will start buzzing in an effort to find a mate, a slow-building crescendo of noise that as a chorus can be louder than a plane.
Where will they be?
- The first waves of cicadas will emerge in northern Louisiana, southern Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, northern Georgia, and up into western South Carolina.
- A map of a portion of the United States with red dots in southern states like North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi.
- There are blue dots in northern Illinois, northwestern Indiana and southern Michigan.
- Red dots are also in southern Illinois and neighboring Missouri.
- Brood XIII is shown by blue dots, and Brood XIX is shown with red dots.
How long will the dual emergence last?
- Cicadas are beneficial to the environment, acting as natural tree gardeners.
- The bugs are beneficial to the environment, acting as natural tree gardeners.
- The holes they leave behind when they emerge from the ground help aerate the soil and allow for rainwater to get underground and nourish tree roots in hot summer months.
- The slits they make in trees can cause some branches to break, and the leaves then turn brown in a process known as “flagging,” which is a kind of natural pruning.
- When the branch grows again, the fruits it yields will tend to be larger.
- When they die, the cicadas’ rotting bodies provide nutrients that trees need.
Are cicadas dangerous?
- Cicadas don’t bite or sting, nor do they carry any diseases.
- But since they’re not great fliers and even worse landers, cicadas often end up on sidewalks and city streets, where they can be squashed by people or cars and could conceivably make things slick.
Cicadas in India:
- Cicadas are members of the superfamily Cicadoidea and are physically distinguished by their stout bodies, broad heads, clear-membraned wings, and large compound eyes.
- Cicadas emerge annually in most parts of India, there is a one periodic cicada, the Chremistica ri bhoi in Meghalaya that emerges only once in four years.
- They are listed as near threatened by IUCN.