It's Time! 17-Year Cicadas Are About To Emerge

05:41

May 05, 2016

Newly emerged adult cicadas dry their wings May 16, 2004 at a park in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The species known as Brood V cicadas will soon come out in parts of Ohio, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, after being underground for 17 years. These periodical cicadas have an inborn molecular clock. They will emerge when the temperature is 65 degrees Fahrenheit at eight inches beneath the ground.

Chris Simon, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Connecticut - Storrs, talks to Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson about the fascinating history and behavior of cicadas.

For more information on cicadas and to report sightings, visit www.magicicada.org.
To hear cicada recordings, listen to Songs of Insects by sound recordist Lang Elliott.

Guest

Chris Simon, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Connecticut - Storrs.

This segment aired on May 5, 2016.