Cicadas Swarming: Send Us Your Photos Of This 17-Year Phenomenon

VIRGINIA/DC — The cicadas that are part of Brood X have been emerging in the Washington, D.C., area for the past several weeks, and are now at the peak of the cycle. Patch loves photos and wants to feature your encounters with the insects.

While most cicadas have 13-year life cycles, Brood X is one of several periodical cicadas that emerge from the ground every 17 years.

These insects live only a few weeks above ground, with most of them expected to die off over the next month.

They won't disappear all at once, though, due to them emerging from underground at different times. The D.C. area can expect some of the cicadas to linger through mid-July.

If you’ve taken an awesome photo of the cicadas since they first arrived a month ago, we'd love to feature it on Patch. If you haven’t taken a picture yet, there are still plenty of the curious insects covering the area.

We're looking for your best images of the cicadas. Email your cicada photos to virginia@patch.com.

Be sure to include your name, the city, location of the photo and date.

Note: Only submit photos that you have taken yourself or own the copyright to. By submitting your photo to this callout, you are granting Patch the right to re-publish it on any and all Patch sites.