As spring temperatures rise, cicadas from Brood XIV, a cohort of 17-year periodical cicadas, will begin emerging across the Southeast and Northeast U.S. They dig up from the ground when temperatures reach 64-65 degrees. Their emergence, spread out over several weeks, involves males producing loud buzzing sounds to attract females. The cicadas will emerge in stages, starting in Northern Georgia in late April and reaching Massachusetts by late May, with their buzzing reaching sound levels comparable to jet planes landing.
The trees will just be screaming with all these males singing. I have measured the intensity - the highest I've ever measured is 102 decibels. Commonly, you'll see them coming in at 90 decibels. That's louder than the planes landing at Dulles.
Having been buried for 17 years, the cicadas of Brood XIV will start digging their way up to the surface when the soil temperature rises to 64-65 degrees.
It's like this rolling emergence that occurs. The insects in any given area do not emerge in one day. Rather, they take about two weeks to rise to the surface.
From there, the insects will emerge in a northward direction, as spring progresses and warm temperatures reach those areas the following weeks.
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