Cicadas Heading for DC Area, But How Many?

You’ve probably seen the headlines by now:

“Cicadas to swarm” the East Coast.

There will be “billions” of them.

“Like a horror movie.”

But the number of cicadas we’ll see this month (and through July) is actually up for some debate.

The Brood II 17-year cicadas are coming—that’s for sure. The last time they emerged around here was in 1996, and people from the Carolinas to Southern New England are expected to see them.

• Return of the 17-Year Cicada Expected This Spring
• When Are Cicadas Hatching in Chantilly?

Entymologists do seem to agree that we’ll see fewer cicadas in this area than in 2004, when the Brood X 17-year cicadas emerged. But that’s about all they agree on right now.

How are you feeling about the coming swarm (or non-swarm) of cicadas? Are you nervous or excited? Tell us in the comments! 

"It's a safety in numbers game," Michael Raupp, professor of entomology at University of Maryland, told WTOP recently. "They simply emerge in such numbers that they overwhelm the appetites of all the animals that want to eat them."

But environmental officials in Fairfax County say this year’s appearance of the Brood II cicadas will be “minor.”

“Fairfax County is on the border of where this year’s 17 year emergence will occur,” says Joan Martinez Allen, Urban Forester II with the Department of Public Works and Environmental Services. “Their presence will be spotty.” Fairfax County officials hosted an online chat about cicadas last week.

Regardless of how many show up, they are expected to emerge from the ground in mid- to late May and stick around for four to six weeks.

• See: Could Cicadas Be the Perfect Spring Snack?