MIAMI VALLEY — The Miami Valley is about to be inundated with billions of cicadas.
Brood X has been underground for 17 years. Now, the bugs are making their way to the surface, said Wright State University biology professor Don Cipollini.
There are some early reports of cicadas already coming up from the ground, Cipollini said. However, he expects the start of this cicada season to really pick up around May 15 and peak around May 25.
The surface of the ground needs to reach 64 degrees for about a day for the cicadas to start to surface.
“That temperature is one that evolutionarily is ingrained in them, because it represents a temperature that there’s very little risk that they’ll freeze,” Cipollini said.
Once they are out of the ground and they mature they will start mating.
“The males are the ones that do all the singing,” Cipollini said. “What you’re hearing is males doing mating calls, generally the high pitched, whirring, whining sounds, that can reach 100 decibels.”
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He explained, The female cicadas respond to the males by flicking their wings and making an audible click, that indicates that they’re willing to mate.
The males will continue to mate for as long as they are alive. They will start dying before the females. The females will live a few weeks longer to lay eggs.
The cicada season will end in late June.
Cox Media Group
