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Periodic Cicada Brood Emerging In Southwestern Ohio

uky.edu
Periodical cicada

A group of cicadas is emerging in southern Ohio after 13 years underground, according to two researchers who study the insect.

A College of Mount St. Joseph professor and another researcher say they found the cicadas last week at the Crooked Run Nature Preserve in Clermont County. Some cicadas emerge annually. But the researchers say periodical cicadas are only found in the eastern half of the United States and emerge typically every 13 to 17 years. The groups that emerge are called broods. Cicadas spend most of their lives underground, living by sucking fluids from plant roots. The mate and die within weeks of emerging. Cicadas in large numbers create a loud buzzing racket and can harm young trees.