After a 17-year hiatus, there should be a big welcoming party.
But not everyone will be thrilled about the emergence of swarms of the Periodical Cicada (the 17-year brood XIII), due to create a big buzz when they start to appear in late May or early June. They'll stick around for 6-to-8 weeks.
"A lot of people will be excited, one way or another, when they appear," said Todd Hutson, agriculture and natural resources extension educator with the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service. "Some of these people are even going to panic a bit.
"There is really no reason to panic. They are not poisonous, they do not bite or sting. There is really no danger to humans at all."
The danger that exists out there is to some of the trees, especially younger, smaller ones.
"The damage is done when the female makes a slit in the end of branches to lay eggs," Hutson said. "Older trees can easily sustain this, but it can deform or kill smaller trees. If you are concerned about your small and valuable trees, it is best to contact a professional about spraying or applying netting."
Cicadas can attack more than 200 species of trees, but they seem to prefer oak, hickory, flowering fruit, mountain ash and grape. They tend to stay away from coniferous trees, such as spruces, pines and firs.
Their preference in branches ranges between 3/16 and 7/16 of an inch in diameter.
The 17-year cicadas are distinctive in their looks -- they are 1 1/2-to-2 inches long with red eyes, a black body, orange legs and an orange black "W" on transparent wings. Once it is time to surface, the larva will emerge when the temperature of the soil reaches somewhere around 60 degrees. They will grab onto plants, posts and other structures to quickly develop into mature adults.
"The soil has to be a certain temperature to stimulate them to begin their mating cycle," Dan Popiela of the Lake County Parks Department said. "Their only real purpose is to come out, lay eggs and then die. Most of their life is as a grub underground."
The adults mate in 7-to-10 days, then the females lay their eggs in the branches. In six weeks, the eggs will hatch into nymphs that will fall to the ground to crawl beneath the soil, find roots to feed on and begin the 17-year cycle all over again.
"The loud buzzing sound that the cicadas are famous for are the males singing," Hutson said. "This is how they get the female's attention and attract them."
As many as 1.5 million cicadas per acre is a possibility, with tens to hundreds of thousands being more common.
"We are just not sure how many are going to show up," Hutson said. "An interesting thing to note is all of the subdivisions that have gone up in the past 17 years. Some of this construction may block some of their paths, or they may have been carried away in the digging and building of these properties."
