PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Cicadas will be flying in our area this spring, and more will come in the summer months. According to a local expert, some of these bugs have been waiting almost two decades to emerge.
A certain species of cicadas emerge yearly, known as dog-day cicadas, since they appear during the “dog days of summer” — usually from July to September. However, periodical cicadas are expected to surface by May.
Dr. Jon Gelhaus, the curator and chair of entomology at the Academy of Natural Sciences, said the cicadas coming in the spring have been through a long life cycle.
“One is the periodical cicadas, which emerge every 17 years around here, and that's the one that's supposed to emerge in this year, 2025,” he said.
The insect is known for its high-pitched singing, and the periodical cicadas are the louder species since they emerge in higher populations. Gelhaus says the males sing to attract the female species.
“When they're up in the trees, there's actually three species that emerge at the same time of these periodical cicadas, and they're all calling at the same time, they're all calling together,” he said, “with three different calls or songs.”
Both species don’t stick around for longer than two weeks to a month before laying new eggs and beginning their life cycle again. “They're not gonna hurt you, but they might land on you,” said Gelhaus.
While they pose no threat to humans, the insects may affect young trees if a female cicada lays eggs.
“When the female lays her eggs, she lays it into a tree twig. And what happens to the rest of the twig beyond the eggs is it, it dies. It's called flagging in trees,” Gelhaus explained.
“So you'll get the end of the twigs dying back to where the eggs are. In most cases, this doesn't affect trees in our landscape and, you know, big trees or in the forest."