To the untrained eye, cicadas may look extremely similar to each other, characterized by their hard exoskeleton and distinctive drone.
But, as millions of residents of the southeastern and midwestern United States will soon discover in the spring of 2024, the different species of cicadas can vary widely in everything from their sound to their appearance to their behavior.
Two broods of cicadas — Broods XIX and XIII — are expected to emerge from the ground, culminating their life cycle by reproducing on the surface. There are also seven different species of periodical cicadas in eastern North America, four of which emerge every 13 years, and three of which emerge every 17 years. Most cicada broods include all of the species of cicadas on that life cycle.
That makes this year’s co-emergence unique — because Brood XIX is on a 13-year cycle and Brood XIII is on a 17-year cycle, we’ll be able to spot all seven different species of cicadas during the approximately one-month period that they’ll spend above ground.
