5 ms·

I'm a bit perplexed as to why cicadas have been in the news lately. It's my understanding that almost every year there's a brood that emerges. In fact, I think

I'm a bit perplexed as to why cicadas have been in the news lately. It's my understanding that almost every year there's a brood that emerges. In fact, I think it's more noteworthy that 2023 will be the first year in almost a decade without the emergence of cicadas.

ericd 5y ago
There are broods every year, but every 17 years there’s a whole different type with red eyes that comes out, is my understanding, in addition to the normal broods.
lupire 5y ago
Larger prime numbers have larger broods (maybe). This brood is the largest, most successful brood
- interestica 5y ago
  Whoa, I had no idea about the math involved: > "But the 13- and 17-year recurrence of cicada emergences may be an even savvier strategy. Both 13 and 17 are prime numbers, meaning they're divisible only by 1 and themselves. This means that emergences rarely overlap with predator population cycles that occur in shorter intervals. For example, if cicadas emerged every 10 years, they'd be susceptible to predators whose population boomed on a cycle of one, two, five or 10 years. If they came out every 12 years, they'd be a tasty snack for any predator on a cycle of one, two, three, four, six or 12 years. Thirteen years, though? Only one and 13. The same goes for a 17-year cycle." https://www.livescience.com/periodical-cicada-prime-numbers.html https://www.livescience.com/periodical-cicada-prime-numbers....
openasocket 5y ago
This brood is orders of magnitude larger than the others. I grew up in Maryland and I don't think I've ever seen a cicada up close except for now and 17 years prior. Sure I heard them sometimes in the summer, but this is something else.
- dmitryminkovsky 5y ago
  I'm in Maryland too. Are you seeing them in any quantity?
  - openasocket 5y ago
    Yeah, but it's patchy. There's a couple big trees down the block from my house where each one has hundreds of those exoskeletons on them, there's literally a carpet of the exoskeletons around them. While my backyard has 6 trees and I've yet to notice even one out there. I've seen a few dozen live ones, but all seem to be freshly matured. Most of them didn't have their wings fully unfolded yet, and haven't seen a single one flying or heard a single one calling.
    - dmitryminkovsky 5y ago
      Thanks. Sibling comment [0] says they are seeing many right now. So maybe tomorrow morning... [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27190262 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27190262
  - plaidfuji 5y ago
    I’m in MD as well... there’s a big maple tree in my yard that’s attracted probably hundreds of them at this point, lots of holes in the ground around it from when they emerged, but they haven’t started singing yet, or even moving tbh. And hundreds is a lot, but not “covering the entire tree” by any means. Just a surprisingly large number of giant, docile bugs in the corner of the yard.
    - plaidfuji 5y ago
      Update: just went outside to check (it’s dusk)... there are thousands more coming out right now. It’s gonna be nuts tomorrow morning.
      - dmitryminkovsky 5y ago
        Thanks for the update. Will look more tomorrow. Exciting...
bynkman 5y ago
Some broods are very localized and small. I believe Brood X is going to be a large brood for many areas East of the Mississippi. 2024 may be a bonkers year for SE Missouri/NW Kentucky, when two broods will come out around the Mississippi. I live in Kansas City, and 2014 was a brood year for the area. We won't be seeing much until 2024. Many of my friends have been posting about Brood X, here in KC. But I've been having to educate them about the locality of brood X. The 2004 brood in KC was a good size. Totally freaked me out, since I had recently moved to the area, and had never seen a cicada in my life. At first, I thought they were alarms going off.
neither_color 5y ago
I was a kid when the last brood X came out(Washington DC area) and it's epic, like something out of a movie. They literally darken the sky, and you sweep mounds of their carcasses off your driveway and sidewalk. We used to grab handfuls of them and throw them at each other in school, put them down our friends shirts as pranks, etc.
jccalhoun 5y ago
If you are where brood x is coming out there will be enough of them that you can scoop them up by the shovel full.
ENOTTY 5y ago
Part of it is media bias. Lots of media centered around NYC and Washington DC.
jgwil2 5y ago
There are non-periodical cicadas that have an annual lifecycle, but the ranges of the various broods of periodical cicadas do not overlap a whole lot. The Great Eastern Brood is the biggest of these and its range roughly corresponds to the most densely populated region of the country, so most people who experience periodical cicadas experience these ones.

ericd 5y ago

There are broods every year, but every 17 years there’s a whole different type with red eyes that comes out, is my understanding, in addition to the normal broods.

lupire 5y ago

Larger prime numbers have larger broods (maybe). This brood is the largest, most successful brood

interestica 5y ago
Whoa, I had no idea about the math involved: > "But the 13- and 17-year recurrence of cicada emergences may be an even savvier strategy. Both 13 and 17 are prime numbers, meaning they're divisible only by 1 and themselves. This means that emergences rarely overlap with predator population cycles that occur in shorter intervals. For example, if cicadas emerged every 10 years, they'd be susceptible to predators whose population boomed on a cycle of one, two, five or 10 years. If they came out every 12 years, they'd be a tasty snack for any predator on a cycle of one, two, three, four, six or 12 years. Thirteen years, though? Only one and 13. The same goes for a 17-year cycle." https://www.livescience.com/periodical-cicada-prime-numbers.html https://www.livescience.com/periodical-cicada-prime-numbers....

openasocket 5y ago

This brood is orders of magnitude larger than the others. I grew up in Maryland and I don't think I've ever seen a cicada up close except for now and 17 years prior. Sure I heard them sometimes in the summer, but this is something else.

dmitryminkovsky 5y ago
I'm in Maryland too. Are you seeing them in any quantity?
- openasocket 5y ago
  Yeah, but it's patchy. There's a couple big trees down the block from my house where each one has hundreds of those exoskeletons on them, there's literally a carpet of the exoskeletons around them. While my backyard has 6 trees and I've yet to notice even one out there. I've seen a few dozen live ones, but all seem to be freshly matured. Most of them didn't have their wings fully unfolded yet, and haven't seen a single one flying or heard a single one calling.
  - dmitryminkovsky 5y ago
    Thanks. Sibling comment [0] says they are seeing many right now. So maybe tomorrow morning... [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27190262 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27190262
- plaidfuji 5y ago
  I’m in MD as well... there’s a big maple tree in my yard that’s attracted probably hundreds of them at this point, lots of holes in the ground around it from when they emerged, but they haven’t started singing yet, or even moving tbh. And hundreds is a lot, but not “covering the entire tree” by any means. Just a surprisingly large number of giant, docile bugs in the corner of the yard.
  - plaidfuji 5y ago
    Update: just went outside to check (it’s dusk)... there are thousands more coming out right now. It’s gonna be nuts tomorrow morning.
    - dmitryminkovsky 5y ago
      Thanks for the update. Will look more tomorrow. Exciting...

bynkman 5y ago

Some broods are very localized and small. I believe Brood X is going to be a large brood for many areas East of the Mississippi. 2024 may be a bonkers year for SE Missouri/NW Kentucky, when two broods will come out around the Mississippi. I live in Kansas City, and 2014 was a brood year for the area. We won't be seeing much until 2024. Many of my friends have been posting about Brood X, here in KC. But I've been having to educate them about the locality of brood X. The 2004 brood in KC was a good size. Totally freaked me out, since I had recently moved to the area, and had never seen a cicada in my life. At first, I thought they were alarms going off.

neither_color 5y ago

I was a kid when the last brood X came out(Washington DC area) and it's epic, like something out of a movie. They literally darken the sky, and you sweep mounds of their carcasses off your driveway and sidewalk. We used to grab handfuls of them and throw them at each other in school, put them down our friends shirts as pranks, etc.

jccalhoun 5y ago

If you are where brood x is coming out there will be enough of them that you can scoop them up by the shovel full.

ENOTTY 5y ago

Part of it is media bias. Lots of media centered around NYC and Washington DC.

jgwil2 5y ago

There are non-periodical cicadas that have an annual lifecycle, but the ranges of the various broods of periodical cicadas do not overlap a whole lot. The Great Eastern Brood is the biggest of these and its range roughly corresponds to the most densely populated region of the country, so most people who experience periodical cicadas experience these ones.