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Periodic cicada on a leaf: “Pretty humiliating”
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John Schultz / picture alliance / AP Images
It's not that it hasn't happened before - but it actually happened a long time ago: In 1803, when Thomas Jefferson was president, both the "Brood XIX" and "Brood XIII" cicada populations emerged at the same time.
This year it's that time again - and as entomologist Floyd W. Shockley told the New York Times, the country can prepare for the appearance of a trillion periodical cicadas.
According to the paper, the cicadas' two adjoining and in some places overlapping distribution areas extend across a total of 16 states in the Midwest and southeast of the country.
After the event, it will take another 221 years for the 13-year and 17-year cicadas to emerge again in the same year.
“No one alive today will experience anything like this again,” Shockley continued.
"It's really awe-inspiring." If lined up end to end, the cicada train would reach to the moon and back 33 times.
The cicadas would die about a month after hatching - and as poor fliers, they would usually die near the spot from which they emerged.
In the city, they could then be crushed en masse by people or cars, potentially even causing slippery roads.
But the animals are not dangerous, USA Today reported.
The cicadas provide a valuable source of food for birds or other predators, can aerate lawns, improve water filtration and add nutrients to the soil as they decompose.
People should consider them "free fertilizer for the plants in their gardens and natural areas," Shockley told the New York Times.
There are several different broods of 13- and 17-year cicadas in the United States.
By only appearing in flocks every 17 or 13 years, the animals make it difficult for their predators to adapt.
These reproduce every two, three, four, five or six years and cannot synchronize this cycle with that of the cicadas.
Sol