People in the US are set to witness a natural phenomenon that hasn’t happened since 1803. In a rare occurrence, billions of cicadas from two different broods are set to emerge together from the underground after 221 years.
Why is this event special?
These insects belong to two distinct groups of periodical cicadas. One group emerges from the underground every 13 years and the other every 17 years, reports NBC News. It is extremely rare when both groups line up their cycles.
This year, the once-in-a-lifetime event is going to take place as two groups with different cycles are set to emerge at the same time. According to the outlet, the groups known as Brood XIII and Brood XIX have ‘their homes adjacent to one another, with a narrow overlap in central Illinois'.
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“Thomas Jefferson was president the last time these two broods came out, so is it rare? Yes,” Gene Kritsky, an entomologist at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati told NBC News. Kritsky is also the author of the book A Tale of Two Broods which is written about this rare event and was published earlier this month.
{{/usCountry}}“Thomas Jefferson was president the last time these two broods came out, so is it rare? Yes,” Gene Kritsky, an entomologist at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati told NBC News. Kritsky is also the author of the book A Tale of Two Broods which is written about this rare event and was published earlier this month.
{{/usCountry}}Kritsky, in a conversation with the New York Times, said that the first wave of the cicadas will show up in ‘northern Louisiana, southern Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, northern Georgia, and up into western South Carolina’.
How many cicadas will emerge?
Floyd W. Shockley, an entomologist and collections manager at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History told the New York Times that during the duel emergence, it is estimated that billions of cicadas will appear on the surface in the US. To give perspective, Shockley added that if the insects, which are one inch long each, are laid side-by-side, they would cover 15,782,828 miles.
When will it happen next?
“Nobody alive today will see it happen again,” Shockley told the New York Times. “That’s really rather humbling,” the entomologist added. After 2024, the cicadas won’t sync their emergence cycles till 221 years.