Here in my western burb of Chicago, we’ve got quite a few. As I understand, this is a brood that comes out 4 yrs before the big 17-yr brood.
Not overwhelming as the big one, but still pretty loud, w/ a lot of shells and big flying red-eyed bugs around. Seems VERY localized. We apparently live in a neighborhood w/ plenty of older trees, whereas a mile or 2 in 1 direction or another may have none.
Hows about youse guys?
New Jersey doesn’t have them yet and it doesn’t look like we’re due for them this year. 2013 was our big year. So 2030 is our scheduled next big swarm. We’re due for a smaller swarm next year though. We typically get our swarms in May & June.
None here on the far Northwest side. We usually get annual cicadas (earthtone eyes) and it feels a little early in the summer for them here. I enjoy having them around. I haven’t seen them lately but, for a period of a few summers, there were cicada killer wasp burrows in my yard. Now those are interesting creatures.
How far NW? I’m originally from Belmont-Central. Now am in Elmhurst. The other day a friend from Oak Park came out and commented on how loud it was, saying there were NONE by her.
Is that not an every summer thing? Down here in Texas, cicadas are a mid to late summer thing every single year. It’s still a little early here, but in another month, we’ll hear that constant droning sound like we always do.
I saw about half a dozen that were either dead or dying in lonely confusion. LOL
Nah - we get those every year in late summer. I think I’ve heard people call them “dog day cicadas” or somesuch. But those are generally heard rather than seen.
That’s entirely different from what we experience every 17 years. In infested areas, it is so loud I’ve basically given up on using my yard, it is so loud. I wonder at the decibel - but it is basically a neverending day long chorus, rising and falling, as loud or louder than a power tool nearby.
As you note, these occur much earlier than the annual ones. And the bugs are pretty wild looking, with bright red eyes. You see piles of their molted exoskeletons at the bottom of some trees, and clinging to some walls. The big bugs are easy to spot flying about, and often fly into you. Right now, with my windows open, it is quite loud - but not as loud as the 17 year (and definitely preferable to leaf blowers! ;))
I’ve never seen a live* cicada. I see the molts sometimes. I hear them often. But I’ve never seen one. They seem to live above head level in trees.
*Once I came close–I heard one screaming when a cat caught it and rushed over to rescue it, but it had already been decapitated.
Approx sixty hundred west & fifty hundred nort’.
That IS far NW!
And it is SO refreshing to hear a Chicagoan give their location in numbers, instead of those BS cutesy “neighborhood” names! :rolleyes:
I’m in the DC area, and have only seen one. It was on our fence, emerging from its old exoskeleton. Usually I don’t see them until August.
No organic flying cat toy swarms in Oregon.
One of my most vivid memories of southern France is the sound of the cicadas of Provence. In one town, I heard them as soon as I stepped out of the train. They were several blocks from the train station, in a row of large trees. As I got nearer, I realized that they were all in one tree - thousands of them chattering away, probably mating. The sound was deafening.
Cicadas are the unofficial mascots of Provence. Replicas are sold in gift shops, including plush ones for kids.