23-05-2025
Kentucky considered ‘epicenter' of 17-year cicada ‘Bourbon Brood'
KENTUCKY (FOX 56) — The unmistakable sound will mark the turn from spring to summer across the Bluegrass because, according to University of Kentucky entomologists, the state is at the epicenter of the cicadas' emergence.
The periodical cicadas have popped up across western Kentucky in previous years. But the 17-year cicadas will be most prevalent across Kentucky's central and eastern regions in 2025.
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UK has deemed them the 'Bourbon Brood,' and the University of Connecticut noted this brood is among the largest of all 17-year cicada broods.
The insects emerge from the soil after 17 years to molt into their flying, adult forms, typically from April to May, much earlier than typical cicadas.
'We will begin seeing this brood of cicadas when the soil warms to the mid-60s, about the same time you start to see iris blooms,' Jonathan Larson, assistant extension entomology professor in the Department of Entomology at UK Martin-Gatton CAFE, said. 'A lot of people hate them, but I hope they will learn to appreciate them as periodical cicadas are such a rarity.'
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Cicadas count their feeding cycles to know when to emerge, and not all cicadas appear in the correct year. Those that don't are called stragglers and typically don't stick around for long.
'A song from a large congregation of cicadas can be deafening, rivaling the sound made by a jet engine,' Larson said. 'Only the males can produce the sound, and their first song is to encourage other males to congregate in sunlit trees. Another choral song is then made to attract females. The males will die shortly after mating, and the females will begin laying their eggs.'
For additional information on periodical cicadas from the UK Department of Entomology, click here.
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