“We see trillions of these amazing living organisms crawling out of the Earth, climbing up the trees, and it’s just a unique experience, a unique sight. It’s like a whole species of aliens living under our feet, and after a dozen years they come out to say hello,” says Saad Bhamla, a biologist at the University of Georgia.
And the Newberry County Sheriff’s Office in South Carolina posted a message on Facebook informing people that the screeching or siren-like sound is just the singing of male cicadas, which they use to lure mates after more than a decade of silence.
“We have received several calls about a noise that sounds like a siren, a hum or a scream. That sound is cicadas. Cicadas are an extremely abundant family of insects, some of which appear every spring. The nymphs of other species live underground for 13-17 years before they hatch. Although the noise is annoying to some, it does not pose any danger to people or pets. Unfortunately, these are the sounds of nature,” the report reads.
However, this year the cicadas are extremely loud, and the noise will increase even more. Because this year’s cicadas are different from their annual green cousins, and parts of the U.S. have been hit with an unusual double dose of cicadas, and the insects have appeared and will appear in numbers not seen in decades and possibly centuries.
This is because the species Magicicada tredecim and Magicicada septendecim are common in North America and take 13 and 17 years to develop before emerging to the surface.
The cycles of their coming out of the ground have not coincided for centuries until this year. The last time these two litters emerged from the underground together was 221 years ago, and after this year it is predicted that it will not happen again until 2245.
Some may also notice the places where the cicadas have dug out.
“When they hatch from the ground, they dig tunnels, and if you’re in a cicada outbreak, you’ll have dozens, maybe even hundreds of holes in the ground in a relatively small area. This is very similar to having your lawn aerated by a lawn care company, which can help oxygen penetrate the soil better.
Maybe it can reduce soil compaction a bit and allow water to penetrate into the ground better,” said PJ Liesch, director of the Insect Diagnostic Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, about the insect skins.
Based on information from Time and Euronews.
