ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — This summer will be a lot noisier than usual. That's because two cicada broods are emerging at the same time — and the same place.
Central Illinois will see a crossover between two groups of cicadas in mid to late May. One group comes out to mate after 13 years underground and the other after 17 years. The broods emerging this year, Brood XIII in northern Illinois and Brood XIX in southern Illinois and throughout the South, haven't come out at the same time since 1803.
Tierney Brosius, an associate professor of biology at Augustana College, said there aren't too many extra cicadas expected in the Quad Cities. But if you want to see them, both broods are expected to meet just a few hours away in Springfield.
"I would say anywhere that, you know, has a nice place to go hiking and a pretty, nice intact forest, you probably got a good chance of seeing them," Brosius said. "So really, we don't have to drive too far to see a pretty spectacular natural event."
Brosius said the phenomenon of periodical cicadas only happens in the eastern U.S. These black cicadas with red eyes are different from the annual cicadas, which are bigger and have a green and black pattern.
"There's some theories that this is kind of the ultimate avoidance of predators," Brosius said. "It's so the predators can't really predict when they might emerge."
While trillions of loud bugs crawling around may sound unsettling, Brosius said they won't cause harm to crops, gardens, pets or people. Instead, they'll be a great source of food for wildlife.
"The whole ecosystem's about to be flooded with a big meal," Brosius said. "I'd say next spring, we're going to have an abundance of those beautiful songbirds."
Once they emerge, the cicadas will be around for about a month, giving everyone time to stop and hear the bugs.
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