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By Derek Craddock

THEY'RE COMING!

A real screamer. Why some in Saskatchewan are excited about the emergence of cicadas?

Mar 30, 2024 | 8:00 AM

At first glance, it sounds like something from a 1960s horror flick or an episode of Radio Mystery Theater, but it’s real life and it’s coming this spring.

Bug enthusiasts in Saskatchewan are watching parts of the United States in the coming months for a phenomenon that hasn’t happened since the 19th century.

A double brood of periodical cicadas, a large insect that sleeps and develops underground for years before emerging, is happening from late April to early June.

The lifecycle of these insects is unique as they spend most of their lives underground, feeding on the juices of nearby plant roots before coming out of the soil every 13 or 17 years.

This year, two broods of 13-and-17-year periodical cicadas will emerge around the same time, in the same locations, meaning the forests will be littered with millions, if not billions of these bugs.

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So, what’s all the buzz around these critters and why are entomologists, those who study insects, elated that these cicadas are coming out?

“Because it’s extraordinarily rare,” said Dr. Sean Prager, an Associate Professor at the College of Agriculture and Bioresources at the University of Saskatchewan. “They only emerge every so often based on a particular period.”

Double broods of cicadas happen every five to six years but the 13 and 17-year broods don’t always awake in the same month, let alone in the same area. This year is different as the broods will emerge around the same time and in the same forests.

According to the University of Connecticut, which has intensively studied these periodical insects, this year will mark the first time since 1998 that adjacent 13-and 17-year broods will emerge in the same year.

The broods emerging this year (Brood XIX and XIII) haven’t co-emerged since 1803. The next co-emergence, between Brood XIX and IX, will happen in 2037.

This rare occurrence will only happen in the United States from Illinois to as far east as New Jersey and south to Georgia but Prager believes it could spill over into areas of southern Ontario, possibly Windsor.

A map showing where the two broods of cicadas will emerge this spring. (University of Connecticut)

Prager confirmed that one species of cicadas lives in Saskatchewan: The Okanagana canadensis or Canadian Cicada. Those cicadas are not periodical, meaning their development stage only lasts a few years before emerging. They’re also relatively silent insects.

The same can’t be said for the periodical cicadas as the males make a loud, piercing sound to attract females and with billions expected to emerge around the same time, the sounds will be deafening.

Once these periodical cicadas emerge, they’ll find mates, lay their eggs and die or get eaten by other animals.

For Prager and countless others, they can’t wait for the cycle to emerge and the swarms to start flying.

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derek.craddock@pattisonmedia.com