First Cicadas Have Emerged In NJ, Billions More Expected Soon

NEW JERSEY— Waves of "Brood X" cicadas are set to emerge this spring after 17 years underground, and they're expected to arrive earlier than their parents.

Temperatures may play a big role in why the bugs are emerging earlier in New Jersey, according to a new study. Climate Central, an independent organization of scientists and journalists, says that the earlier emergence is due to warmer temperatures (learn more about the study and its methodology here).

In Atlantic City, cicadas are emerging up to eight days earlier in 2020 as compared to 1970. And in Newark, they're emerging up to 15 days earlier, the study said.

Some bugs have already begun to emerge from the ground. Cicada Safari, an app built by scientists at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati to watch the emergence of the Brood X cicadas, records sightings as they happen with photos submitted by users.

“Because ground temperature provides an important cue for cicadas' emergence, and spring temperatures have trended higher since the great-great-grandparents of this year’s Brood X cicadas emerged in 1970, that cue is likely to arrive sooner,” researchers said.

According to Climate Central:

“Cicadas typically emerge in force when ground temperatures reach approximately 64°F degrees, often after a steady rain. Some places with Brood X cicada concentrations have already reached that temperature threshold. The 10-day average temperature across the Brood X region is running 8 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than at this time in 1970, and 1.1 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than in 2004.”

The synchronized emergence of Magicicada cassinii, as this cicada brood is scientifically known, is a true marvel of nature. The species' extraordinarily long life cycle — the longest of any insect on the planet — is part of an evolutionary strategy that has allowed the cicada to survive for 1.8 million years, or from the Pleistocene Epoch, according to a CBS News report.

The cicadas spend more than a decade underground feeding on tree roots before their synchronized emergence as young adults. The males sing with urgency, trying to mate before they die just three or four weeks later.

Experts say that Brood X, or Great Eastern Brood cicadas, are expected to number in the billions throughout the region.

The cicadas are completely harmless to humans, but can produce quite a loud sound once they start singing.

See localized data here.

With reporting from Patch correspondent Anna Qu