2024 is going to be another year of the cicada, with the emergence of two periodical cicada groups, or broods (Brood XIII and Brood XIX), at the same time, roughly in late April to early May.

Now, throughout much of the world, cicadas serenade us in summer afternoons - you might be familiar with that, and wonder “what’s the big deal”.

But in a few special locations, periodical cicadas emerge on a specific cycle, every 13 or 17 years. These emergences are like clockwork - somehow these insects know exactly when to emerge from the ground, in synchrony with each other, across a vast geography.

But it gets better still. Multiple species of cicada emerge together, sometimes in massive numbers approaching 1.5 million per acre of land.

And weirder still, these same species might emerge on a totally different schedule, offset by years, in areas a few hundred miles away.

What’s going on here? Well, this is just the start when it comes to the amazing aspects of cicadas. And today’s guest, Dr. Chris Simon, is perhaps the world’s expert on Cicadas. She joined me for an incredible wide-ranging discussion all the way from New Zealand.

Dr. Simon has been studying cicadas for decades. She is a Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and has a list of accolades so long that I could spend several minutes reading them.

So get ready to learn why these broods of cicadas emerge as they do, how glaciation influenced their locations, why 13 year cicadas tend to occur further south than 17 year cicadas, and of course, how you can see them too.

You can find more about Dr. Simon at cicadas.uconn.edu. And if you are interested in helping contribute to research on cicadas, download the cicada safari app from Apple or Google. More on that in the episode.

FULL SHOW NOTES

LINKS

University of Connecticut Cicada Website that includes the recordings heard in today's episode.

Cicada Mania has more information on cicadas!
Cicada Safari App
Gene Kritsky's book "A Tale of Two Broods: The 2024 Emergence of Periodical Cicada Broods XIII and XIX"
Scissors Grinder (an annual cicada we mentioned)
The Queen of Trees Documentary
Tumble Science Podcast for Kids has an episode with Dr. Simon

Thanks to Kat Hill for editing help this week.

Thanks to the University of Connecticut and Dr. John Cooley for use of the cicada recordings heard in today's episode, found on cicadas.uconn.edu.

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Music: Spellbound by Brian Holtz Music
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Artist site: https://brianholtzmusic.com

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