Cicada Map Reveals States Where Trillions of Bugs Will Emerge

Trillions of cicadas are expected to rise from the ground across parts of the eastern United States in spring 2025, as Brood XIV makes its first appearance since 2008.

Why It Matters

After 17 years underground, this group of periodical cicadas is now poised to emerge in more than a dozen states, bringing a short-lived but intense burst of noise, activity and entomological interest.

What To Know

According to reports by The Farmers’ Almanac and AccuWeather, the brood could emerge in the following states this year:

Georgia
Indiana
Kentucky
Maryland
Massachusetts
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Tennessee
Virginia
West Virginia

According to the University of Connecticut, Brood XIV is the second-largest periodical cicada brood after Brood XIX, which was last seen in 2024 in a rare double-emergence with Brood XIII not seen for over 200 years.

According to a forecast by AccuWeather, Brood XIV will begin surfacing when soil temperatures reach about 64 degrees Fahrenheit, most likely in May. The emergence typically lasts through late June.

The forecasting company said some of the heaviest concentrations are expected in Kentucky, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and southern Ohio.

Adult periodical cicadas only live three to four weeks, according to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

Some periodical cicadas emerge in 13- or 17-year cycles. Males produce mating calls by vibrating membranes on their bodies. After mating, females lay eggs in tree branches. The eggs will then hatch six to seven weeks later, and the nymphs burrow into the soil to begin the next cycle.

According to the U.S. Forest Service, the species can produce sound levels that reach upward of 90 to 120 decibels—comparable to a motorcycle.

What People Are Saying

Dr. Jim Fredericks of the National Pest Management Association told AccuWeather: “That noise level can get up to a hundred decibels…The sound of a passing jet plane, the sound of a lawnmower—this is really loud because it’s literally hundreds of thousands or millions of individuals singing at the exact same time.”

Dave Marshall, a cicada researcher at the University of Connecticut, previously told Newsweek: “It is suggested that the periodical cicadas do not count to 13 or 17 years but that they count years in fours and check to see if they are ready to emerge after each set of four. If ready, they emerge in the following season.

“Thus, you get 13- and 17-year cicadas, not 12- and 16-year. It is possible that the prime number aspect is merely a coincidence.”