17-year cicadas soon to cover Midwest

CHICAGO – Coming soon: Brood XIII.

It sounds like a bad horror movie. But it’s actually the name of the billions of cicadas expected to emerge this month in parts of the Midwest after 17 years underground.

The red-eyed, shrimp-sized, flying insects don’t bite or sting. But they are known for mating calls that produce a din that can overpower ringing telephones, lawn mowers and power tools.

Brood XIII is expected across northern Illinois, and in parts of Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana. Cicadas live only about 30 days as adults.

They don’t harm humans, although they are clumsy and might fly into people. Birds, squirrels and pets, especially dogs, love to eat them, and they are high in protein.

“They’re going to have quite a meal. It’s going to be like Thanksgiving for them,” said Tom Tiddens, a supervisor at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Members of Brood XIII are periodical cicadas, which are only found in the eastern half of North America. The annual, or dog-day cicadas, are common worldwide.

As nymphs burrowing underground, cicadas suck sap from tree roots. Almost all members of a brood burst from the ground within a couple days of one another. They quickly climb the nearest vertical surface to molt and unroll their wings. In some heavily wooded areas, as many as 1.5 million cicadas per acre will crowd onto trees, experts say.