Cicadas are officially emerging from the ground in several parts of the Chicago area as the start of a historic emergence begins. But where can you expect them most?
The emergence of Brood XIII and Brood XIX, which haven't sprouted simultaneously in more than two centuries, has started earlier than average in Illinois.
"The periodical cicadas have been emerging for the last week and a half," Stephanie Adams, plant pathologist at Morton Arboretum in Lisle, said Tuesday of Brood XIII, which will soon overspread across the entire Chicago area. "We found them both out here in our landscape and also in our East woods."
According to Adams, the emergence of the first cicadas comes about two weeks ahead of the historic average. It will continue to be sporadic, as soil temperature, mulch and turf grass all impact cicadas differently. For example, the soil is warmer near pavement, so cicadas in the those spots are expected to emerge quicker.
Across most of Illinois and the Chicago area at least one of the two broods is likely to emerge, but in a narrow part of the state, both could emerge at the same time, in the same place.
"This is like the year for Illinois," cicada expert Catherine Dana, an affiliate with the Illinois Natural History Survey, told NBC Chicago. "We are going to have cicadas emerging all over the state."
The Northern Illinois Brood, or Brood XIII, will be most seen in parts of northern Illinois and Indiana, and possibly even in Wisconsin, Iowa and parts of Ohio. This brood will be the most prominent in the Chicago area for the upcoming emergence.
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Meanwhile, Brood XIX, or the Great Southern Brood cicadas, have a more widespread population, covering parts of Missouri, Illinois, Louisiana, North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland.
"Brood XIX is arguably the largest (by geographic extent) of all periodical cicada broods, with records along the east coast from Maryland to Georgia and in the Midwest from Iowa to Oklahoma," the University of Connecticut reports. "Although 13- year cicadas are generally considered to have a southern distribution, the northernmost known record of this brood is in Chebanse, IL, roughly 75 miles from Chicago’s Loop."
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The emergence is set to last through mid-June.
Here's a map of what to expect in Illinois, according to data from the USDA Forest Service.
"Somewhere around Central Illinois, probably like around Springfield, is what some researchers are predicting we may see some overlap of these two ... different broods," Dana said. "It's not going to be a large area. But there will likely actually be some mating happening between these two broods, which is going to be really exciting."
