Billions of Cicadas Set to Swarm Iowa and Wisconsin this Summer

Unless you like the sound of billions of cicadas don't expect peaceful evenings this summer in Iowa and Wisconsin. This is all thanks to two broods of cicadas that happen to be emerging at the same time this summer. Great.

Periodical Cicadas in Iowa and Wisconsin

There are such things as annual cicadas, which are the ones we see (or hear) in Minnesota. But in other parts of the Midwest, you'll also find periodical cicadas. These guys, the ones with black bodies and red eyes, only emerge every 13 or 17 years depending on the brood.

These types of cicadas spend most of their life in the larval stage, according to the National Wildlife Federation. During that time, they live "burrowed beneath the soil and feeding on fluids from plant roots."

Then, when it's their time and it's warm enough, they come out of the ground and do their final molt to become an adult. And that's when the noise begins.

Once they're out of the ground, their goal is to find a mate. And that's where the sound comes in. Males are the ones who make all the racket and do so mostly when they're looking for a mate, according to The Tennessean.

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It's Going to Be a Loud Summer

There are two things about this spring/summer that are just GREAT (note the sarcasm):

1. Each individual periodical cicada "in a brood emerges within weeks of one another" according to the National Wildlife Federation.

2. Both the 13-year and 17-year broods overlap this year. So basically there's going to be double to cicadas and therefore double the noise.

One thing that is pretty cool about this is that both of the broods emerging at the same time hasn't happened since 1803! And it won't happen again for another 221 years.

Where to Expect Billions of Cicacdas this Summer

NBC released a map from Cicada Safari that showed where these two broods have appeared in the past, therefore predicting where they'll be seen again this year.

On the map, you can see that easter Iowa will likely be in for both broods. As for Wisconsin, only one of the broods has been seen in southern Wisconsin in the past but, of course, we won't know until they emerge this summer.

As you can see, other states that will see at least one of these broods are Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, And Maryland.

It looks like Illinois is going to get totally drowned out by these cicadas since half of the state has seen one brood and the other half has seen the other in the past. It's going to get loud.

But Don't Kill the Cicadas!

Even though the noise can be a bit much (NBC says they can reach 100 decibels which is the equivalent of a motorcycle) don't kill them! They're good for the environment.

The US Environmental Protection Agency says that cicadas "can aerate lawns and improve water filtration into the ground", once they die they "add nutrients to the soil as they decompose", and they're "a valuable food source for birds and other predators."

So if you're in an area where these billions of cicadas will be emerging, just kick back and try to embrace the noise.