It starts out innocently enough. An exoskeleton on the sidewalk. A large black bug staring at you from a tree as you walk down the street. And then suddenly they’re everywhere, screaming in chorus, and lying in wait on your car door.

They’re flying, buzzing, and crawling everywhere! Washington, DC, neighborhoods around the U.S. Copyright Office are teeming with Brood X cicadas, taking their next steps on a seventeen-year journey. Along the way, they’re also inspiring musicians, photographers, artists, and authors to create copyrighted works.

The Science Section of the Library of Congress talks about the Brood X emergency while giving some interesting facts and videos about these unique creatures.

Do you hear it? There is a buzz in the air, or at least there will be soon, Teaching with the Library
Primary Sources & Ideas for Educators blog post about the Brood X emergence.

USDA's Agricultural Research Services is studying the damage periodical cicadas cause to orchard trees when they lay their eggs on tree branches
From the ARS Research News, October 18, 2023.

Information about cicadas for K-12 students from the National Park Service that includes interesting facts along with sound clips, differences between annual and periodical cicadas and what a dual emergence is.

Provides information on the brood X emergence as well as why cicadas emerge at the same time, the ecological benefits of the emergence and managing and reducing the its effects on local flora.

The Missouri Department of Conservation provides a timeline for future periodical cicada emergences and information on the biology of the cicadas.

This site tailored to a K-12 audience gives information about the cicada life cycle with informational videos and related resources for parents and teachers to use to talk to their children about the cicada emergence.

This site explains the loud noise of tens of thousands emerging and singing at the same time can affect our hearing.

This site tailored to K-12 provides information about the double emergence in 2024 of two broods of cicadas. It also provides other resources, books and an app that students can use to understand these unique creatures.

Using 3D renderings this technology represent specimens of both sexes of all the North American periodical cicada species and allow for precise measurement, visualization, and annotation of morphological features, and since they are openly shared, the models can be used in both the classroom and research environments.

The NC Cooperative Extension has created a FAQ site with information on cicada biology, maps of emergence patterns and resources for anyone interested in upcoming cicada emergences.

Perdue University provides information on how to identify cicadas and interesting facts about these fascinating creatures.

New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station provides information on the life cycle and biology along with information on the next several emergences in New Jersey.

Video from Science magazine on how cicadas that come out every 17 years may emerge more often in the future and how four-year windows of flexibility allow the insects to change their life cycles.
Cantwell, M. (2021, June 15). Cicadas that come out every 17 years may emerge more often in the future. Science. Retrieved 2024, from https://www.science.org/content/article/cicadas-come-out-every-17-years-may-emerge-more-often-future.

Scientific American article on the black naturalist Benjamin Banneker on his research on Cicadas and fight against slavery.
Barber, J. (2021). Long overlooked, benjamin banneker is recognized for work on cicadas and against slavery. Scientific American. Retrieved 2024, from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/long-overlooked-benjamin-banneker-is-recognized-for-work-on-cicadas-and-against-slavery/.

Article on the science, art and culture of Cicadas. How they impact our lives more than just once every 17 years and includes five surprising reasons cicadas make excellent research subjects.

The biodiversity research collections gives in depth information on the double emergence of 2024 cicadas and talks about what happens when two different broods come out at the same time.

The University of Maryland offers up some key points about cicadas such as information on their appearance and life cycle, the damage that they can cause and answers some common questions about periodical cicadas

Parts of Wisconsin will be a lot louder this summer. The culprit? Cicadas. This article and video talk about the sounds that cicadas make and how loud they actually can get.