They’re here. A billion periodical cicadas have emerged from the ground throughout northern Illinois and parts of surrounding states for the first time since 1990. For the next four to six weeks, the loud buzz of their mating calls will drone from treetops. After reproducing, they will lay eggs and die. The adult cicadas will be completely gone by early July. The eggs will hatch in August and the nymphs will retreat underground to repeat the cycle in 2024.
By springing forth from the ground by the millions, periodical cicadas help ensure that no single predator can devour them all. This survival strategy is known as “predator satiation.” When the insects emerge, everything that can eat them, does. Birds, squirrels, chipmunks, voles, deer, coyote and even other insects will eat cicadas for the month that they are around.
The sudden abundant food supply has a positive effect on both plants and animals. For once in 17 years, every living creature in the woods will have a full stomach. Some animals benefit doubly: they have an ample and easy food supply, and the predators that would normally eat them gorge instead on cicadas. Further down the food chain, insects and bacteria feast on the cicadas after they die off, and plants get a boost from the extra nutrients in the soil from the dead cicada bodies.
Nothing to fear
What periodical cicadas won’t do:
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They won’t bite or sting. They couldn’t if they wanted to, they do not have chewing mouthparts or stingers.
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They won’t bother your garden. Experts are unsure whether they eat at all as adults. If they do, their straw-like mouths cannot chew on anything.
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They won’t kill your trees. Cicadas and trees have been getting along for thousands of years. The tips of small branches where they insects lay their eggs may turn brown at the end of the summer. This “natural pruning” causes no permanent damage and may even be beneficial to the tree.
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They do not transmit any diseases.
Interactive online Brood XIII map
Those living in the region of the 2007 emergence are invited to contribute valuable information to a cicada emergence mapping project conducted by the Lake County Forest Preserve District. The project aims to collect data about the distribution and density of Brood XIII, especially in northeastern Illinois. Citizen scientists are asked to visit an online interactive map and place a colored map pin at their home or work address to indicate the density of cicadas in their area. The map provides a real-time visual representation of Brood XIII’s appearance and comparative data for their next emergence in 2024. The map is available on the forest district’s website at http://www.LCFPD.org/cicadamap.
Cicada special events
In celebration of the rare and spectacular cicada emergence, the Lake County Forest Preserve District is hosting several cicada-related public events at Ryerson Conservation Area in Deerfield, Illinois, approximately 40 minutes north of Chicago off of I-94. A high density of the insects at this site will present plenty of opportunity for public inspection.
Cicada expert Dr. Gene Kritsky will speak at Ryerson Woods on Saturday, June 2, at
7 pm. Kritsky is one of the world’s foremost authorities on the biology of the periodical cicada. Registration is required and there is a fee to participate. See http://www.LCFPD.org/cicadas for details and online registration or call (847) 968-3321.
Following the lecture, guests are invited to watch the newly-emerged nymphs, which begin to appear at dusk. Visitors may come for cicada observation without attending the lecture. No registration is required and there is no fee to participate.
On Sunday, June 3, the public is invited to “Cicada Mania,” a free cicada festival at Ryerson Conservation Area in Deerfield, IL. Guided cicada hikes, interactive cicada exhibits, music, shopping, games and crafts are offered. Cicada expert Dr. Gene Kritsky will conduct a family-oriented chat. Registration is not required and the event is free. See http://www.LCFPD.org/cicadas for details or call (847) 968-3321.
Naturalists will lead guided cicada hikes at Wright Woods Forest Preserve near Mettawa and Independence Grove Forest Preserve in Libertyville in June. Registration is required and there is a fee to participate. See http://www.LCFPD.org/cicadas for details and online registration or call (847) 968-3321.
About the Lake County Forest Preserves
The Lake County Forest Preserve District is located in Lake County, Illinois, between Chicago and Wisconsin. The District manages over 25,400 acres of land and offers innovative educational, recreational and cultural opportunities for all ages. Visitors enjoy over 125 miles of trail for a variety of outdoor recreation uses, fishing ponds and lakes, public access to the Fox River, award-winning nature and history education programs and events, and four public golf courses.
Additional Information: www.LCFPD.org
For additional information about periodical cicadas, and related education programs and special events offered by the Lake County Forest Preserves, look online at http://www.LCFPD.org/cicadas or call (847) 968-3321. For general information about the Lake County Forest Preserve District, call (847) 367-6640 or visit online at http://www.LCFPD.org.
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