MOLINE, Ill. — The trees are buzzing at parks like Loud Thunder Forest Preserve — but back in Moline, the only thing you can hear is the wind.
Tommy McElrath is the insect collections manager of the Illinois Natural History Survey. He's been tracking cicadas as they emerge across Northern Illinois using the iNaturalist app. In the densest areas, McElrath said there can be upwards of 1.5 million cicadas in an acre — but there haven't been any recorded in the Quad Cities.
"There were not any in the Quad Cities 17 years ago," McElrath said. "So if they weren't there 17 years ago, they're not gonna be there this year." There are historical records of the brood in the area, but he said broods can shift over time.
There's a reason you can't find them here, according to Illinois Extension Horticulture Educator Emily Swihart.
"So we are going to find high concentrations of cicadas in the areas of the Quad Cities that had high concentrations of woody plant materials for at least, and more reasonably, more than 17 years ago," Swihart said.
Cicadas feed on tree roots underground. Without an established forest, they have nothing to eat.
"In like our communities, in our downtown areas, while we have nice trees in some of those areas, the density of the planting and perhaps the existence of the planting 17 years ago is affecting what we see in terms of the population now," Swihart said.
If you were looking forward to the cicadas, don't worry — there are plenty of spots to find them.
"There are some emerging north of Illinois City in the Loud Thunder Forest Preserve," McElrath said. "And a few other ones sort of along the Mississippi River in some of the forested areas a few miles to the west." They've also been spotted in Sherrard, Wildcat Den State Park and in the forests west of Davenport.
If you're not a fan of the noise, you won't have to hear them for long.
"Enjoy the cicadas while you can, they're gonna be gone in just a few weeks," McElrath said.
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