When will cicadas officially arrive in Middle Tennessee? Everything about Brood XIV
A new brood of cicadas is coming, as millions of the noisy, ear-piercing buzzing insects prepare to emerge from Tennessee soil in the coming weeks.
Brood XIV is expected to be one of the largest cicada broods, impacting Tennessee and 12 other states.
It's been a long wait for the brood, which has been underground for the past 17 years. The insects will emerge once soil temperatures reach 64 to 65 degrees.
Tennessee and Kentucky are expected to see the largest amount of the insects, Gene Kritsky, founder of Cicada Safari, told USA TODAY.
More: Middle Tennessee survived the cicada invasion of 2024. How did the bugs become bobbleheads
According to data compiled by Tennessee State University and Tennessee Tech University, cicadas are expected in Robertson, Cheatham, Davidson, Williamson, Wilson, Sumner and Dickson Counties.
The cicada brood is periodical, only occurring every 17 years, and only in the eastern half of the United States, Kritsky told USA TODAY.
Kritsky said there are three different species of 17-year periodical cicadas: Magicicada septendecim, magicicada cassini and magicicada septendecula. There are some differences among the three species, such as their calls and color, he noted.
Kritsky said cicadas are insects from the hemiptera order that includes stink bugs, bed bugs, aphids and other cicada families.
Kritsky wrote on his website that the oldest historical record of Brood XIV cicadas is from 1634, when Pilgrims at Plymouth Colony recorded the insects. Native Americans knew of cicadas from centuries prior to European contact.
Only male cicadas make that distinct buzzing sound. They use a sound-producing structure called tymbals, located on the side of their abdomen, Kritsky wrote on his website.
Kritsky said five days after they emerge from the soil, cicadas begin their buzzing noises. It takes six weeks for all of them to come out.
The sound can be deafening, reaching decibel levels of 102, which is louder than a jet flying into an airport.
The insects are mostly built to keep their species alive.
Female cicadas die after mating once. The males mate until they are unable and then die. After six to 10 weeks, the eggs laid by females on tree branches hatch and then drop to the ground. The juveniles burrow underground and feed on grass roots, leaving behind holes in the ground.
There are a few misconceptions about the noisy insects, according to The University of Tennessee Extension Institute of Agriculture.
Many of them were passed down by Native Americans who believed a large cicada emergence had an evil significance.
Early American colonists believed cicadas to be Biblical, like locusts plaguing Egypt, and were considered a punishment.
Another misconception was that cicadas will destroy crops, the extension said.
"However, adult cicadas do not feed on foliage. Adults may feed on twig sap to a limited degree. The most immediate and noticeable damage results when females make injurious slits in twigs and limbs of trees as they deposit eggs," the extension institute said in a March 2021 report.
The distinct black "W" on the outer end of the front wings was once thought to have foretold war, the extension institute said. Instead, the "W" is caused by deeper pigmentation of the veins.
And no, cicadas can't poison fruit by stinging it.
Kritsky said while cicadas don't live long, they do provide environmental help.
Because they tunnel into the ground, they create natural aeration of soil and provide food for predators.
Yes, humans can cicadas, Kritsky said. Though he said cicadas are best consumed when they are still white.
'They taste like cold canned asparagus,' Kritsky wrote on his website. 'Like all insects, cicadas have a good balance of vitamins, are low in fat, and, especially the females, are high in protein.'
USA Today reporter Saleen Martin and Arizona Republic reporter Tiffany Acosta contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: How much longer before cicadas are back in Middle Tennessee? Where?
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