Billions Of Cicadas To Swarm Northeastern United States This Year; ‘Brood II’ Invasion’s Noise Like New York Subway Station

This spring, billions of Cicadas will swarm in the Northeastern United States. 'Brood' Cicadas emerge from underground every 17 or 13 years, depending on the group.

The emergence of Cicadas marks the spring season, and each year a different brood emerges. According to National Geographic, the largest brood, 'Brood X,' last emerged in 2004. Although billions of cicadas are expected to emerge this spring, the numbers are not expected to break any records.

When the ground temperature eight-inches down reaches 64 degrees Fahrenheit, the red-eyed 'nymphs' will emerge from the ground, crawling to the surface.

A week after the nymphs emerge, they will shed their skin and fly. The males will sing to attract a mate, and the females will respond by rubbing their wings together, creating the signature 'buzz' of summer.

This year's set of cicadas are called 'Brood II.' The Bood II cicada spends nearly its whole life underground eating tree roots. Craig Gibbs, an etymologist at the Wildlife Conservation Society's Queens Zoo, said, "Brood II is a periodic cicada that hatches out every 17 years. The specific thing about these 17-year cicadas is they are going to be a very dark colored body. They have really bright red eyes, and they also have bright red wing veins."

The Brood II cicadas are expected to appear along the East Coast between mid-April and late May.

Gibbs said, "What will happen is the nymphs will come up and they will shed their nymphal skin and they'll crawl up into the trees and they'll take about five days to harden and then they'll start for the next four to six weeks calling and looking for mates."

WNYC and Radio Lab have launched a project to predict the emergence of Cicadas using ground thermometers and encouraging students to help predict this "once-in-a-generation invasion." They are also hosting workshops to help people build Cicada detectors around New York City.

Although the insects are harmless to humans and trees, the noise they make is very annoying. The sound can be compared in volume to a New York City subway station.

"It'll be noisy. There's no getting around the noise. And again, that's just the males looking for females. What's noisy to a human is the sound of love to another cicada," Gibbs told CBS.