ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - This summer's number one soundtrack in the St. Louis-area is about to quiet down.
The St. Louis area's cicada population has hit its peak and is likely to start declining, according Butterfly House entomologist Tad Yankowski.
"Just a few days ago, I've seen the most cicadas I've ever seen on one tree in the area," said Yankowski to KMOX. "There were thousands on the trees and thousands under it. I think we will see a few areas where they will still congregate and still see a big boom, but ultimately, I think we will see fewer and fewer."
But how much longer will St.Louis-area will have to hear that pesky cicada orchestra?
"Probably for another month, we will see them," said Yankowski. "This was an extended emergence time as the weather got cool, then warm, then cool, so it extended the time it took them to come out. So will probably have a few cicadas that will linger into June. I doubt we will have any by early July, though."
Yankowski says he has notice that few areas saw cicadas long before others, with his first sight of cicadas coming in Columbia, Illinois, two weeks before cicadas would emerge in Ballwin, where he lives. Recently, cicadas only began to emerge in Forest Park.
Yankowski says he finds it interesting that the cicadas emerged at different times in different places, in some cases just miles down the road.