Billions of Cicadas to Emerge in NY & NJ This Spring, Louder Than Jet Engines

Billions of Cicadas to Emerge in NY & NJ This Spring, Louder Than Jet Engines

Edited by: TJVNews.com

A deafening chorus is set to descend upon New York, New Jersey, and 11 other states this spring, as billions of cicadas emerge from a 17-year-long hibernation. According to a report that appeared on Saturday in The New York Post, this remarkable natural phenomenon will begin in late April to mid-May, when soil temperatures reach a consistent 64 degrees Fahrenheit — the critical cue for these extraordinary insects to tunnel their way to the surface.

This year’s emergence will come from Brood XIV, a population of cicadas that surfaces only once every 17 years. According to the information provided in The New York Post report, these periodic cicadas are known not only for their dramatic appearances but also for their thunderous mating calls — which, according to entomologist Gene Kritsky, can exceed 102 decibels, easily overpowering the noise of jets flying overhead at LaGuardia or JFK Airports, which hover around 80 decibels.

Last year, parts of New York City and Long Island witnessed an unusual co-emergence of Brood XIII cicadas, which also operate on a 17-year cycle, and Brood XIX, which appears every 13 years. However, the size and scale of this year’s Brood XIV emergence remains uncertain, Kritsky told The New York Post, noting that the cicada population in the Empire State has significantly declined over the past three decades. He attributed this drop to increasing urban development and deforestation, which continue to fragment and reduce the cicadas’ natural habitats.

“Every cicada needs a large clump of trees,” Kritsky told The New York Post, emphasizing that as woodlands give way to concrete and asphalt, cicada populations become more vulnerable to predators. “If it gets too small, the predators will eat them all and that will stop their populations.”

Despite their alarming appearance — large-eyed, winged insects nearly two inches long — cicadas pose no threat to humans or animals, The report in The New York Post reassured. These creatures belong to the same biological order as stink bugs and bed bugs, but they neither sting nor bite. “People shouldn’t be afraid of the periodical cicadas because they don’t carry disease, they’re not a sign of filth, and they don’t carry away small children or pets,” Kritsky said in his comments to The New York Post. Kritsky, who also founded Cicada Safari, a citizen science project aimed at tracking cicada populations, is leading efforts to document this year’s emergence.

Nonetheless, cicadas can still cause localized damage — particularly to young trees. Female cicadas use their sharp ovipositors to slice into tender branches and deposit their eggs, which can harm saplings and developing limbs. The Environmental Protection Agency, The New York Post report noted, recommends wrapping young trees in mesh netting during peak cicada activity to protect them from this oviposition behavior.

Once they surface, adult cicadas will spend a brief but dramatic month above ground. As was explained in The New York Post report, they will stop feeding, focus entirely on reproduction, and then die shortly thereafter. Their piercing mating calls — produced by the males to attract females — will begin about a week after emergence and persist for up to three weeks, enveloping forests, parks, and backyards in a relentless wall of sound.

Following mating, females lay their eggs, which hatch six to ten weeks later. The newborn nymphs, no larger than a grain of rice, will then burrow into the ground, where they’ll remain until 2042. This synchronous emergence is a strategic evolutionary move — a survival mechanism to overwhelm predators. “Birds, the dogs, the cats, the squirrels, the raccoons – all their predators can get their fill, and there are still millions of cicadas left,” Kritsky noted in The New York Post.

So, residents of New York, New Jersey, and beyond should prepare for the ear-splitting return of Brood XIV. While their presence may be overwhelming in sound, these strange and ancient creatures are harmless heralds of spring — nature’s fleeting spectacle that won’t return for another 17 years.