They’re loud, they’re downright horny, and after 17 years underground, they’re back. If you thought spring allergies were the worst thing in the air this season, think again — billions of periodical cicadas from Brood XIV are emerging for a noisy, all-out mating frenzy.
From Tennessee to New York, these alien-eyed insects are already making their presence known, and some are even infected by a fungus that turns them into zombie love machines.
“Nature is stranger than any science fiction that’s ever been written,” evolutionary biologist John Cooley told the Scientific American while describing the phenomenon.
Here’s what makes this brood so unusual, why you’ll hear them from dawn to dusk, and whether you should be worried.
What are periodical cicadas?
Periodical cicadas emerge in massive, synchronized swarms every 13 or 17 years, unlike regular cicadas that appear in smaller numbers every year or two.
Once above ground, adults have one mission: to reproduce before dying off. Females lay eggs in tree branches, and when the eggs hatch, the tiny nymphs fall to the earth, burrow underground, and disappear — beginning the cycle again, not to be seen for another 15 years or so.
When will the periodical cicadas emerge in 2025?
Their return is usually triggered when soil temperatures reach around 64°F, typically between April and June. This year, warming trends pushed their emergence back by about two weeks. In some areas, like Tennessee, they’ve already started to appear, with sightings reported in mid-May.
The 2025 cohort, known as Brood XIV, isn’t just punctual — it’s unusually frisky. Many have been infected by a bizarre fungus called Massospora cicadina, which hijacks their bodies, destroys their genitals, and supercharges their sex drive, effectively turning them into mating-obsessed zombies.
What do they look like?
Periodical cicadas typically measure about 1 to 1.5 inches long, with wingspans up to 3 inches. They’re not especially big, but those bright red eyes definitely grab your attention. Their bodies are black or dark brown with bold reddish-orange markings, and their clear wings are lined with orange veins, making them pretty hard to miss once you spot one.
Despite being frequently mistaken for locusts, cicadas aren’t even close. They don’t jump, they don’t eat crops en masse, and they’re not grasshoppers. In truth, cicadas are more closely related to stink bugs and bedbugs, part of the insect order Hemiptera, or “true bugs.”
Where will cicadas emerge in 2025?
Cicadas from Brood XIV are expected to emerge this summer in at least a dozen states across the country. In some areas, like Tennessee, they’ve already started to appear, with sightings reported in mid-May.
Here’s the full list of where you can expect to see and hear them:
- Georgia
- Kentucky
- Indiana
- Massachusetts
- North Carolina
- New Jersey
- New York
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- West Virginia
Are periodical cicadas harmful?
Even this particular sex-crazed brood poses no real threat to you or your beloved pet. Cicadas don’t bite, sting, carry diseases, or secrete anything toxic. They’re basically all buzz and no bite (literally).
That said, they do love to make some noise. Male cicadas belt out high-pitched buzzes and clicks to attract mates, and when thousands are singing in unison, the volume can hit around 100 decibels — that’s as loud as a motorcycle or a lawnmower. In some areas, the drone can last from sunrise to sunset, so if you’re not a fan of nature’s noisiest dating ritual, it might be worth investing in earplugs or a white noise machine.
