Brood X Cicadas Will Thrive In PA With Warm Week Ahead

PENNSYVLANIA — Warm weather over the coming week in many parts of Pennsylvania will help draw out even more members of the enormous swarm of cicadas, part of the vaunted "Brood X" whose presence will soon be unmistakeable throughout the region.

With temperatures in the 70s and even rising into the 80s next week all over Pennsylvania, according to the National Weather Service, the emergence of more of the bugs, part of a cadre which comes out once every 17 years, is inevitable.

Like all cicadas, Brood X's behavior is highly dependent on the weather. In fact, warmer weather in general this spring is likely a contributing factor in why the bugs are emerging earlier in Pennsylvania than expected. That's according to a recent study from Climate Central, an independent organization of scientists and journalists.

RELATED: 17-Year Cicadas Have Emerged In PA

While some may see the emergence as a pestilence, it's actually an important ecological function. According to the National Wildlife Federation, cicadas aerate the soil, prune mature trees, and offer their dead bodies as a key nitrogen source for younger trees.

Bugs began to emerge from the ground in recent weeks in Pennsylvania. 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 across the state over the past week as they happen with photos submitted by users.

The height of the emergence has yet to arrive, however. That's likely to come in late May or early June. You'll know it when it happens: the mating call of billions of cicadas all at once is likely to be deafening. The collective song of male cicadas calling for mates can reach up to 100 decibels, experts say. Think of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle with straight pipes constantly running outside your window, minus the exhaust fumes.

The purpose of the emergence is singular: go forth and multiply to ensure the species will emerge again in a deafening buzz, and promptly drop dead after finishing the one job they worked their way out of the ground to do.

The male cicadas are the ones that make all the noise. They do it by vibrating their tymbals.

What are tymbals? As described on the Chicago Botanic Garden website, tymbals are "two rigid, drum-like membranes on the undersides of their abdomens."

The bugs have already become a cultural phenomenon. Chestnut Hill resident and children's author Doug Wechsler has penned a new book about the occasion: "The Cicadas Are Coming" that highlights the ecological benefits of the charismatic critters.