INDIANA– Remember back in 2022 when we had the emergence of cicadas? Well, guess what: it’s time to do it again. In 2024, something intriguing and incredibly rare is happening: two separate broods of cicadas – Brood XIX and Brood XIII, respectively – are set to emerge from their long-term slumber at the same time. The last time this “double emergence” of cicadas occurred was more than 200 years ago, so even if you’re not an insect person, this is still notably awesome. So let’s get ready to rumble with the double emergence of cicadas: 21st-century edition.
A “brood” is defined as a group of periodical cicadas that emerge in the same year, and all of them have names designated by Roman numerals. Back in 1907, an entomologist assigned numerals to 30 different broods of the little fellas. As of this writing, there are 12 broods of 17-year cicadas and three broods of 13-year cicadas.
When can we expect our guests this year? Cicadas typically begin emerging from their underground worlds during the last two weeks of May and into June. This won’t happen again for another 221 years.
