A resurgence of cicadas is expected to hit southern parts of the US this year.
But 2021 will be the year of their resurgence in Michigan.
Periodical Cicadas appear once every 13 or 17 years, depending on the species. Experts say it is still not entirely clear why.
Gary Pearson is an Entomologist at Michigan State University.
“They will cover trees, they’ll cover walls of buildings, the individual cicada noise isn’t’ that loud but when you get them all together the sound can be somewhat deafening.”
Pearson said there will be over one million cicadas per square acre. He said the last emergence in Michigan was in 2004.
“That same brood that will emerge in Michigan next year will also emerge in Illinois, Iowa, and perhaps Ohio in much greater numbers. It’s the largest brood in the United States and is the most widespread.”
Pearson said one theory for why the cicadas operate on vicennial cycles is to confuse predators.
“So when they do emerge they do get predators, birds, and animals eating them but there are so many the predators have no effect on their population numbers.”
In Michigan, he said, the resurgence will be concentrated around the Ann Arbor region.