The song of the Cicada may be sounding off in your neck of the woods this week. But, it’s nothing compared to the roar of abdomen-flexing insects anticipated in some parts of Kentucky in the next two years.
That sound up in the trees is primarily the mating call of male Cicadas. It’s the annual emergence of this insect type. Jonathan Larson is an entomologist at the University of Kentucky. Next year, an every 13-year Cicada presence will be heard in about four western Kentucky counties. And then there’s the following spring.
“But, in 2025 brood 14 will emerge and these are 17-year Cicada just like they were in 2021 and that’s gonna be across a bunch of different counties,” said Larson.
That will include areas in Fayette, Madison, and Whitley Counties. And the numbers are quite different. Larson said annual Cicadas like those buzzing now run into the hundreds of thousands while it might be a billion coming out of the ground during the periodic emergence.
Larson said the sound can be deafening.
“They annoy people with their song. It’s louder than a jet engine when they all get going. There are lots of them and people often find that frightening. Most people aren’t as weird as I am and think that this is amazing. They think that this is kind of weird and creepy cause there’s all these six-legged critters trying to crawl around on their property,” said Larson.
The 13-year and 17-year emergences of Cicadas occur around May, while the annual Cicadas come on the scene in mid-July.
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