Brood X summer is in full swing in east-central Illinois, where 17-year periodical cicadas came out of the ground around Memorial Day.
On a steamy weekday morning, along the eastern edge of Illinois, beams of light pierced through the leafy cover above Kickapoo State Park. A pulsating chorus swelled and steadied: cicada mating calls. A fine mist hung in the air: cicada pee. A man crunched down on a few of the twitching insects and …
The 17-year cicada is due back in Chicagoland in 2024.
For nearly two decades, they’ve hung out underground, preparing for the day they’ll writhe up into our world, make a lot of noise, have sex and die. It’s not a nightmare. It’s a summer preview for a sliver of eastern Illinois and swaths of Indiana. And you can think of it as a warmup for what’s …
E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune A Brood X cicada on a tree June 10, 2021, at the Kickapoo State Recreation Area near Danville. E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune A Brood XIII cicada nymph molts after scaling a tree in Homewood on May 22, 2007. E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune The discarded …
