Entomologists say two broods of periodic cicadas will be making a rare simultaneous emergence this spring. The last time this happened in the U.S. was in 1803 and the next one won’t happen for another 221 years. Arkansas is home tobrood XIX, a group whose adult insects emerge every 13 years. The brood’s last emergence was 2011 and the next will be 2037. Brood XIII, which emerges every 17 years, last emerged in 2007 and will again emerge in 2041. Brood XIX is the largest 13-year brood in the United States, covering 15 states.Cicadas spend most of their lives underground as nymphs, then “they allemergeat once, in aneffort to overwhelm their natural predators by sheer numbers,” said Jon Zawislak, extension assistant professor-apiculture and urban entomology. “Anything that might want toeat a cicada will beableto get a belly full, so therest can survive to continue the species.”The insects know how to turn up the volume, often hitting 90-100 decibels, louder than a hair drier.“I remember c...
