What to expect for historic Summer of Cicadas

Periodical cicadas are only about 1½ inches long. They come out less frequently, in the spring, but in the tens of millions.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Cicada season has officially begun in Middle Georgia, but this year will be different.

Dr. Bruce Snyder, Associate Professor and Coordinator at Georgia College & State University, says this year we will see the emergence of the Southern Brood. The Great Southern Brood emerges every 13 years.

“For the first time since Thomas Jefferson was the U.S. President in 1803, the arrival of the 13-year Southern Brood coincides with the appearance of the 17-year Northern Illinois Brood XIII,” says Dr. Snyder. “This happens only every 221 years.”

Dr. Snyder says to not confuse the Southern Brood cicadas with regular cicadas that show up every year in mid-summer. Those are brownish green and bigger, about 2 to 3 inches long. Periodical cicadas are only about 1½ inches long. They come out less frequently, in the spring, but in the tens of millions.