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 spending 17 years underground.
The red-eyed 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, and their main goal is mating. Birds, squirrels and pets, especially dogs, love to eat them, and they are high in protein.
The periodical cicadas are found only in the eastern half of North America. The annual, or dog-day, cicadas that appear every summer are common around the world.
“It’s one of the greatest insect emergences on Earth,” said Daniel Summers, an entomologist at the Field Museum.
