Cicada Fest 2024

(Image: https://www.iconfinder.com/khrl11)

This spring and summer there will be an emergence of cicadas in much of the southeastern and midwestern states in the United States. This emergence is unusual as it is the convergence of two cicada broods - one which hibernates 13 years underground and another that hibernates 17 years. The last time both broods emerge in the same year was 1803.

It is not a coincidence that hibernation period of both broods are prime numbers. Having a period of a prime number of years helps reduce the possibility that a predator will have an overlapping period.

Update 4/17/2024: My home state of Illinois is the center of the convergence of the two cicadas broods emerging this year: https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/cicada-maps-illinois-2024/.