Cicadas are set to return this year in the U.S., but their numbers are not expected to be as overwhelming as they were in the spring of 2024, when multiple broods emerged simultaneously.
Brood XIV, the second-largest group of periodical cicadas, known for their noisy mass emergence from the ground, is the only group of 17-year cicada that will emerge this spring, according to University of Connecticut researchers.
Here’s what we know about the cicadas in 2025:
When will cicadas come back?
For most of their lives, cicadas live underground, and then they emerge after a specific number of years once the soil reaches 64 degrees. Brood XIV emerges every 17 years.
Though it’s not known exactly when they will show up in 2025, they typically appear in May and last through June. During those weeks, the cicadas mature, mate and lay eggs before dying off, and then their offspring begin the cycle anew.
Climate change is also affecting the timing of the insects’ arrival. Last year, the cicadas’ return started in Georgia nearly two weeks ahead of schedule.
Carolyn Kaster / AP
Where will Brood XIV cicadas emerge?
Known as the “Great(er) Eastern Brood,” this group is historically found in areas of north Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, southern Indiana and Ohio, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts.
However, UConn researchers note that Brood XIV cicadas population are declining on Long Island and their distributions are shifting in southwestern Ohio and southeastern Indiana. The researchers said they will map and study the cicadas’ 2025 emergence to address gaps in knowledge about the patterns.
How many cicadas will there be in 2025?
It’s difficult to estimate the population of any insects, and cicadas are no exception.
Hundreds of trillions, or even quadrillions, of cicadas were expected in 2024 when two massive broods emerged at the same time, UConn cicada expert John Cooley said.
There will be fewer cicadas this spring, but more than a trillion of the insects could emerge. The number may sound extreme, but the cicadas won’t all be at the same place at the same time.
