Call to Hunterdon Residents: The Brood X Cicada Watch Is On

HUNTERDON, NJ — It's only every 17 years that Brood X cicadas come out. And this year is the year. Hunterdon residents can expect to see this rare phenomenon this month and are invited to join a county-wide cicada tracking project.

Distinguished from annual cicadas by their longer life cycle, these insects spend their entire immature life in the soil and emerge from the ground every 17 years.

Depending on temperatures in May, Hunterdon residents are likely to come across them over the month.

In fact, the county is encouraging people to be on alert and log them on a shared map whenever one crosses their path. Sightings can be recorded here. You'll be asked to click a link to Google Maps in order to find the geographic coordinates.

The map will then be updated regularly Mondays through Fridays. As of now, there is still no data available.

Normally cicadas come out at night. The County Health Department published a series of pictures to help people identify the stages of cicada growth, from when they leave the ground to when they becomes a mature adults.

Cicadas are also expected to appear in other parts of the country, such as Indiana, Ohio, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.

Another nationwide project is also aiming to map out the appearance of cicadas, through an app called Cicada Safari, available here. On their website, you can find more facts about Brood X cicadas and a few themed activities to do, like folding origami.