After a 13-year nap, cicadas are waking up in the South, and with them comes an ear-splitting mating call that will soon fill the air across the southern U.S.
The 13-year cicadas of what is known as Brood XIX (the 19th brood) have been living underground since 1998. That was the last time they held their famous two-month, above-ground mating frenzy.
Brood XIX, also known as the Great Southern Brood, is the country’s largest group of 13-year cicadas, stretching across 12 states, including Missouri, South Carolina, Oklahoma and Illinois. Already rising in some parts of Georgia, they should all be hatched by mid-May.
Mother Earth News: 13-year cicadas wake up, prepare to swarm
I’ve been using cicadas sounds in my live performances. Here’s my favorite site for cicada recordings.