Millions of cicadas have emerged in Ohio. How many eggs can a female cicada lay? What to know
Cicadas have started to emerge around Cincinnati this year. This brood of cicadas is XIV (14), the latest brood of 17-year cicadas to emerge. Cincinnati, Southwest Ohio, Northern Kentucky and Southeast Indiana will see millions, or even billions, of bugs from this brood.
There are always so many cicadas, but how many eggs do female cicadas lay? Let's take a look at what we know.
There are millions, if not billions, of cicadas flying around Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky and several other states right now. How are there so many cicadas when they emerge? Because the females are egg-laying machines.
Female cicadas can lay up to 600 eggs, inserting them into the branches of trees and shrubs with their ovipositor (egg-laying organ), according to the University of Massachusetts.
When cicadas emerge, you'll likely find them on trees. Adult cicada males make their well-known deafening 'buzzing,' or singing sound, to attract females to mate. Up to 10 weeks later, after the eggs hatch, the nymphs drop to the ground and dig into the soil, feeding on host plant roots.
Their underground stages will mostly go unnoticed until the next time adult cicadas emerge.
Whether or not you enjoy this biological phenomenon, only one brood of cicadas has popped out this year. Not two, like last year.
In 2024, two periodical broods appeared. Brood XIX, which has a 13-year life cycle, and Brood XIII, which has a 17-year life cycle overlapped in parts of the Midwest last year, according to Cicada Mania.
The lifespan of cicadas depends on the brood and whether they are annual or periodical species.
Brood XIV is one of 15 recognized broods of periodical cicadas that emerge every 13 or 17 years after living as nymphs underground. It is also one of four broods that appear in the Buckeye State.
Once male and female periodical cicadas have mated and the latter has laid eggs, the insects die after spending only a few weeks above ground. That can be anywhere from three to six weeks after first emerging.
The Brood XIV cicadas won't be crawling and flying around only in Ohio this summer. If you plan to take a summer vacation in another state, you may find them in:
Georgia
Indiana
Kentucky
Massachusetts
North Carolina
New Jersey
New York
Pennsylvania
Tennessee
Virginia
West Virginia
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati swarmed by cicadas. How many eggs can a female cicada lay?
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'Truly magical': The 17-year cicada is ready to rock
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Simisky said, "We have folks reporting them coming up from beneath the ground in Eastern Sandwich, Mass., on May 17." This is when so-called exit holes appear in the ground, small and perfectly dime-sized. Where can you find them? "Some areas on Cape Cod, in Barnstable County, and possibly a much smaller area of Plymouth County," Simisky said. "This past Friday, prior to the long weekend, I went out there, and brought my entire family." Simisky returned with photos, including those of newly-emerged cicadas. If it seems like a curious career, spending most of your existence in the juvenile phase, emerging only for a short time in the hopes of finding a mate and passing on that cicada DNA, it puzzles scientists, too, but from a species survival standpoint, they say it makes sense. "We have hundreds of species of cicadas, but only nine species that do this periodicity thing," said Sebastián Vélez, entomologist and biology professor at Worcester State University. 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With dark brown, black or green features, and black eyes, "Their timing is a little bit different," with appearances in July or August. The male periodic cicadas tend to cluster in a group, and all try really, super hard to attract females by way of really loud sounds. Simisky said, "I can see how some people might be intimidated. Their singing can be loud. The cicada in eastern Massachusetts is one of the quieter cicadas. But when all the males are singing, they are quite loud." How do they do that, anyway? Simisky said, "They have organs on their bodies, called tymbals, on the first segment of their abdomen." Contracting these membranes produces the sound. If you've ever told someone, "You're as cute as a bug's ear," maybe it's time to say, "cute as a bug's typana." What? They're membranous organs that both males and females have, found on the underside of their abdomens, and which register sound. 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Simisky said from time to time, someone on social media postulates that those red eyes surely signify a demon in flight. But if anything, the cicada is a vulnerable creature in many ways. Climate change may bring temperature fluctuations that can confuse creatures, cicadas included. Orth said if a building is constructed over a site where cicada nymphs are lying, they may not be able to make that vertical tunnel to the surface, and instead have travel horizontally until they can find an opening. The cicada asks nothing from us, except to live out its life cycle without interference. "Maybe it's unique to me as an entomologist," said Simisky. "I enjoy seeing this insect. It's truly magical that they are only above ground every 17 years. It gives you a sense of the resilience of life on Planet Earth." Every cicada counts. If you find periodic cicadas in your neck of the woods, so to speak, you can reach out to the Department of Agricultural Resources' Brood XIV Project on iNaturalist. 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Trying to spray them down won't do any good and could instead damage your yard or local pollinators. The best thing to do is to try to ignore them until they finish their life cycle. The bigger problem for some people is the constant noise that cicadas make while they are above ground. It's a relentless buzz and, once the cicadas arrive, it won't stop until they die off again. If the never-ending noise drives you bonkers, grabbing a quality pair of noise-cancelling headphones can make a major difference to your quality of life -- or at least to mine. Really. Why are cicadas so loud? Here's what's happening: Male cicadas make noise to attract females they can mate with -- the more cicadas in an area, the louder it will be. Noise levels have reached more than 100 decibels in some areas, which means if you plan to spend time in the garden, it's a good idea to snag some earplugs to protect your hearing. Wait, what are cicadas again? Cicadas are also known as "true bugs" and emerge on a 13-year or 17-year cycle. Gene Kritsky/Mount St. Joseph University Cicadas are flying bugs that emerge from the ground periodically to mate and then disappear again. They measure 1 to 1.5 inches long, with wings that stretch twice that length. Their bodies are black, with red-brown eyes and orange veined membranous wings. There are 15 broods of cicadas and each has its own life cycle, generally either 13 or 17 years. Brood XIV, the cicada brood emerging in 2025, is a 17-year brood. That means the last time we saw this particular band of insects was in 2008. How many cicadas are expected in 2025? The 2025 brood is also called the Greater Eastern Brood and it's the second-largest brood of periodic cicadas. They're outdone only by Brood XIX, aka the Great Southern Brood, which emerged in 2024. While there aren't exact numbers on how many cicadas we can expect this year, we do know that Brood XIV is massive. It's also one of the oldest broods in the US. This particular brood was first spotted in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in the 1600s, and it's the brood that spawned all the other 17-year broods. With that in mind, we can estimate that at least several million in certain areas, and possibly over a trillion total cicadas will emerge in 2025. Which states will be affected by cicadas in 2025? Each cicada brood has its own geographical location, which means they don't all appear in the same place. In 2025, there are 13 states that will be affected; Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. Do I need to protect my trees from cicadas? While cicadas aren't harmful to people, that same doesn't go for trees. Female cicadas like to lay their eggs on trees where new leaves are located, which can damage branches and cause withering and snapping. While mature trees should be able to withstand this damage without problems, younger trees can be vulnerable and should be protected. Cicadas are a nuisance but they're here for a good time ... not a long you're worried about cicada damage, you have a few options. You can wrap tree trunks and areas where twigs meet branches with cheesecloth, tape and even use landscaping nets around smaller trees. A CNET guide from 2021 explains more about how you can protect trees from cicada damage. When do cicadas appear, and how long do they stick around? While cicadas are a serious pest when they arrive, they don't last long. They'll mostly emerge in May and then stick around for 5 to 6 weeks before they die off. By mid-summer, just in time for the Fourth of July, the cicadas should be gone or at least on their way back underground for another 17 years. Cicadas emerge when the soil 8 inches below ground reaches 64 degrees Fahrenheit. Above-ground temperatures will need to reach the 70- to 80-degree range before the soil will warm up enough, although a warm rain can warm the ground faster. There already have been sightings in Tennessee this year but most of the brood probably won't arrive for a few more weeks. Can you eat cicadas? Cicadas can be eaten but there are things you should know before cooking them. Dan Mogzai The simple answer is, yes. Cicadas can be eaten and people have been doing it for centuries. Native American populations, like the Onondaga Nation, have long viewed the flying insect as a valuable food source. However, eating cicadas does come with risks. Cicadas are related to shrimp and lobster, which means eating them is not recommended if you have a seafood allergy. Cicadas aren't dangerous to pets either, which means if your dog snacks on cicadas it should be fine. Cicadas and climate change For centuries, cicadas have slept underground, emerging only once every 13 to 17 years to mate before disappearing again. While plenty of research has been done on these flying insects, cicadas react to the temperature around them and emerge on a schedule that is triggered by the warmth of the ground. As the planet continues to heat up, the timing of cicadas has started to change. We may soon see a significant change in the life cycle of cicadas. As the temperatures rise, 17-year cicadas could become 13-year cicadas, changing the timeline on when we will see them. While cicadas might be inclined to move further north, it's not an easy process. They can only migrate during their above-ground cycle of life. Because they only emerge for a few weeks at a time and aren't prone to flying long distances, any shift in their geographical locations would occur slowly during their emergences. How you can help cicada researchers Snap a photo and help researchers learn more about cicadas. Video screenshot by Bonnie Burton/CNET Researchers spend time with each brood when it emerges to study its life cycle and track when and where they emerge. However, scientists don't have the time or resources to be everywhere that cicadas appear. That's where regular folks come in. Cicada Safari is a free app for Android and iOS that lets you take photos of cicadas and upload them to the app. Using geolocation on those uploaded images, scientists can track a larger number of cicadas. Your photos of these flying bugs in your backyard can help scientists to understand them better, filling in holes in their research.
