By Ilana Williams

The end of the spring semester at the University of Maryland will be just the beginning for the upcoming round of periodical cicadas, also known as Brood X.

Professors and students at UMD are already preparing for the next generation of the brood. Billions of cicadas will spread out in the northeastern and midwestern U.S to mate and soak up the summer sun as early as the end of April. 

“People all around the world are very interested in cicadas because they’re unique to North America,” said Mike Raupp, a retired UMD professor of entomology. “Maryland is going to be the epicenter for this very large group of periodical cicadas.” 

Many students are excited about the arrival of the new generation. The last appearance was in 2004. 

“The cicadas were all over Baltimore,” said Olivia Meoni, a junior anthropology and archaeology student. “They littered the streets like dead leaves. I remember some of my aunts would not leave the house.”

Cicadas have no defense mechanism and many animals including squirrels, raccoons, turtles and birds will eat them for days. However, they make up for their lack of defense in massive numbers. Eventually, all the animals will be so full they won’t be able to eat them anymore and the cicadas will continue to find a mate and lay eggs. 

Raupp advises dog owners to only allow their pets to eat a few cicadas. If people want to eat them they can, but they should stay away if they’re allergic to shrimp or prawns. 

“Humans will be eating cicadas,” Raupp said. “I know I will. They’re a delicacy.” 

As cicadas make their way up to the treetops they might bump into people, but Raupp said they are completely harmless. 

“They’re not attacking people, they are just clumsy fliers,” Raupp said. “Remember they’re just teenagers. They’re 17 years old and sometimes they’re going to collide with people.” 

If cicadas are clumsy fliers and they have nothing to protect themselves why must they come from underground? 

“It’s simply an evolutionary fact,” Raupp said. “Although they can feed underground, to carry out their biological imperatives to seek mates and to lay eggs they have to be above ground.” 

Females lay their eggs into tiny branches of trees and “that isn’t going to work underground,” Raupp said. 

To protect small trees, Raupp recommended that people do not spray cicadas with insecticides but rather wrap the trees in netting to prevent the cicadas from laying eggs. 

Once they have mated and laid their eggs, the cicadas are going to fall to the ground. The nutrients inside their bodies will add to the soil. 

“They’re going to basically give back [to the environment],” Raupp said. “They take away but they will give back to many other creatures that eat them and also to the plants from which they had taken.”

Although many students and professors are looking forward to being reunited with Brood X, other students are taking precautions. 

Molly Goldstein, a junior computer engineering major, was 4 years old during the last generation of periodical cicadas. 

“I remember there was a tree that was just swarming with cicadas,” Goldstein said. “When I was that age I really liked bugs and critters and I had no fear. I would let them crawl on me. That will not be the case when they come back.” 

Goldstein said she no longer likes bugs and has to try really hard to ignore them. 

“I keep thinking forward to the summer,” Goldstein said. “Like ‘Wow it’s going to be so great. Vaccines are going to be rolling out. The weather will be nice.’ And then I just think ‘Oh wait we’re going to be swarmed by all these really ugly, huge bugs.’”

Goldstein said she hopes there are going to be fewer cicadas around her apartment because she’s living in a more urban setting. 

While Goldstein remembers the last generation of cicadas, Sophia Kotschoubey, a freshman environmental science major, was too young to remember the swarm. 

“I’m worried about how many they’re going to be this summer,” Kotschoubey said. “I don’t really want to be stepping on them or having them landing on me.” 

The cicadas are expected to stay until the beginning of June. Meoni is ready for them.

“It’ll only happen four or five times in anyone’s lifetime,” she said. “It’s definitely an experience I want to remember.” 

Featured image: Periodical cicadas start to emerge once the ground has warmed to a certain temperature. Photo courtesy M.J. Raupp.