CHICAGO — By now, you know we’re about to be visited by billions of cicadas, including downstate Illinois where, for the first time in more than 200 years, two types of cicadas are emerging at the same time.
Scientists say both the 13 year and the 17-year cicadas will arrive in the next few weeks.
In this Cover Story from WGN’s Jackie Bange talks with local experts to deleve deeper into these ear-splitting insects. Call it cicada trivia and help to expands our cicada knowledge before the invasion begins. The experts share what is interesting, bizarre, and sometimes disgusting.
Some quick cicada trivia:
- Periodical cicadas have five eyes. The most prominent are the two red eyes. In very rare cases, one in a million, they may have white or blue eyes.
- Cicadas can fly but expert Brett Peto says they’re not very agile, even klutzy.
- Female cicadas can lay up to 600 eggs.
- When cicadas die they make excellent fertilizer.
And more information can be found at
- The 2024 Periodical Cicada Emergence from UConn
- Lake County Forest Preserve: Celebrating Cicadas
- Field Museum: Cicadas in Illinois
- Chicago’s Botanic Garden: Cicadas
