Cicada map 2024: Broods XIII and XIX emerge in Ohio vacationer hotspots

New Buffalo in Southwest Michigan, which is less than 300 miles from Columbus and Cincinnati and slightly more than 300 miles from Akron, has cicadas.

Likewise for Indiana Dunes in Northern Indiana — also less than 300 miles from Columbus and Cincinnati and a little over 300 miles from Akron. Northern Illinois, including the Chicago area, are also expected to experience 17-year cicadas this year.

Where are the cicadas in 2024? App developed in Cincinnati tracks sightings

Adult periodical cicadas from Brood XIX are out in full force in states across the Midwest and Southeast, according to Cicada Safari, a cicada tracking app developed by Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati, Ohio.

App users have spotted them in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, southern Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

Brood XIII has emerged in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Indiana. The Chicago area and around central and northern Illinois and downstate areas around the cities of Peoria and Champaign are experiencing cicada mania, according to the tracking service.

Does Ohio have cicadas?

Ohio is not in the path of the two broods appearing across much of the Southeast and Midwest, according to the University of Connecticut. However, you might still spot either brood this spring as “some stragglers may pop up in the southwest of the state,” according to Ohio State University’s Buckeye Environmental Horticulture Team.

Parts of southern and southwest Ohio will see the emergence of Brood XIV cicadas in 2025, per OSU’s Buckeye Environmental Horticulture Team.

Confusingly, Brood XIII emerges every 17 years while Brook XIX resurfaces every 13 years, according to the University of Illinois.

Will cicadas emerging this year fly to Ohio?

Ohio is not expected to see an onslaught of periodical cicadas from either Brood XIX or XIII, but some neighboring states will.

So will the cicadas be able to fly to Ohio? That’s unlikely for two reasons.

First, cicadas are clumsy flyers, and their wings are not suitable for long distance travel, according to Science News Explores.

Plus, periodical cicadas emerge only to molt, breed, lay eggs and die, all within a few weeks. They don’t spend time looking for new territory. Cicadas typically fly less than half a mile from the spot where they emerge, according to the University of Illinois. So, 17-year cicadas from Abraham Lincoln’s day have spread roughly five miles total.

What is a brood?

According to the University of Connecticut, broods are classified as “all periodical cicadas of the same life cycle type that emerge in a given year.”

A brood of cicadas is made up of different species of the insect that have separate evolutionary histories. These species may have joined the brood at different times or from different sources. These distinct species are lumped together under the brood because they are in the same region and emerge on a common schedule.

Two broods of cicadas set to emerge in 2024

In the spring of 2024, the United States will witness a rare natural event: two broods of cicadas, Brood XIX and XIII, will emerge together for the first time in over two centuries.

How long will the cicadas be above ground?

How long cicadas live depends on their brood and if they are an annual or periodical species.

The two periodical broods this summer are Brood XIX, which has a 13-year life cycle, and Brood XIII, which has a 17-year life cycle.

Once male and female periodical cicadas have mated and the latter has laid its eggs, the insects will die after spending only a few weeks above ground − anywhere from three to six weeks after first emerging.

That means many of this year’s periodical cicadas are set to die in June, though some could die off in late May or July, depending on when they emerged.

The nymphs of annual cicadas remain underground for two to five years, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation. These cicadas are called “annual” because some members of the species emerge as adults each year.

Why do cicadas make so much noise?

You’ll have to thank the male cicadas for all that screeching. Male cicadas synchronize their calls and produce congregational songs, according to Britannica, which establish territory and attract females. There is also a courting call before mating.

The periodical 13-year and 17-year brood cicadas are the loudest, partially because of the sheer number of them that emerge at once.